Rewinding to 2019 (because I am still in denial that I have slipped into 2022 alive), I want to thank the content creators out there who kept us all going during these times.
Now before someone comes at me saying,
“What about the frontline workers, then? What about the Kerala Police? And what about -“
Shush. Ellarkum thanks und, but let me show my varga sneham like this.
And that includes everyone from the beloved frontline workers to the Kerala Police who created kickass content in these past few years to keep our spirits up and our asses at home.
By staying at home, I saw everything come around in the form of content. For the first time, I turned that content into a 500-word something for a public platform. Now for those who don’t know me, arinyittum valya kaaryam illa, but I have peak anxiety which reached its zenith the minute my first ever article went up on PinkLungi. And naturally then, I kept refreshing the page every five minutes to check for comments (the good, the bad, and the ugly).
“Wait, people are actually reading it?”.
That is when it hit me. Content creators, do this every single day!
Some people genuinely couldn’t care less about algorithms, reach, and dodging the therivili’s, and I believe that happens over time. Content creators are among those jeeva jaalangal who grow a thick skin in due course. And as far as I know, some of us are our own biggest critics. So every single thing you comment on, we probably would have beat you to it by asking it to ourselves a gazillion times.
From the Dalgona coffee hype, that thankfully died out to the Dolo obsession, to dance routines, interesting content has gone up the net while Corona kept exploring the Greek alphabet. Every like every dislike and every comment made some of us wonder if the content is even worthy. And because of this, the internet started becoming an equally annoying space for me. At one point, I even began relating to Aladeen when he said,
“Democracy is just talking and listening to every stupid opinion and everybody’s vote counts”.
We start equating our content with even harsher criteria once it goes public. Because then, it is less of a personal expression and more about naatukaark pongala idaan olla content. The whole idea of “Death of the Author“ then takes place where the creator does not have any further authority over their scriptures. Once produced, it continues to exist in the form of the impression it creates on the reader.
But with all genuineness, despite the number of criticisms that even I have spewed across, we have some amazing content that got us all thinking and entertained. Be it through art, reels, music, fashion, reviews, reactions, mukbangs-paper to NFT, every content has a beauty of its own. I wanted to let you all know that I root for you all. Unless it is content coming from the BJP IT cell; those guys have absolutely no creativity.
Even with all the criticisms and occasional compliments, you all still went on creating content oru brake-um gear-um illathey. It’s honestly an impressive skill and it takes a lot, A HELL LOT, to create content. And so, in remembering the words of the great Robin Williams – “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world” – don’t let anyone else make you believe you are not worthy.
