Worried about social media 'slop'? Relax

Every generation finds comfort in a new worry. Today's grown-ups have found their new bugbear: social media 'slop'. Hitch this worry with a trendy 'global' study - by London-HQed market research firm GWI - that finds people in developed countries spending less time on social media 'pap', and you have a new aspirational grouse. But to quote Douglas Adams' iconic advice in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 'Don't Panic'. Once, the great threat to formative human brains was comic books. Yes, those sinister slim booklets where masked men fought crime, Archie failed to choose between Betty and Veronica, and amar stories were told via intoxicating chitra katha.

'Beta, stop reading these! Your brain will rot!' parents of an era would cry, clutching their copies of The Illustrated Weekly of India. Fast forward to 2025, and the villain has shape-shifted. 'Beta, stop scrolling! Your brain will rot! In Europe, people spend an average of 1 hr 48 mins on that rubbish. Here, we're spending 2 hrs 28 mins! Please finish your Noah Harari!' Never mind that kids today can edit videos, code apps and start side hustles - all while their elders struggle to forward a WhatsApp message without summoning tech support. Every generation thinks the next one is doomed. Today, it's social media reels. Tomorrow, it'll be brain-chip karaoke. So, chill, and scroll along.