Humans are full of energy and must keep gaining and spending that energy to maintain a healthy equilibrium. We all find our outlets in different ways to achieve this but in some cases, it goes awry. When one is not able to find the right outlet to maintain this balance, the excess always makes its way out. And this is where things can become grim, often spiralling into an unfortunate reality we refer to as war.
It can start with a disagreement over something trivial but this mentality, this idea can take the form of a minuscule argument that leads to fisticuffs or worse. An example could be the ever-increasing incidents of road rage. If not kept in check, these disagreements on a larger scale can snowball into full-blown wars between superpowers.
This is where the idea of finding an outlet comes in. Not only one can spend that energy first, finding the outlet, but afterwards, committing to it. And this is where we came up with the idea of #makeContent- NotWar- a small-scale cosplay representing that we can put out our energy to use in trying to do something creative rather than destructive.
Nowadays, we have so many platforms that we can use to showcase our content and there are people out there who are willing to entertain themselves or even get inspired. To us, that is the best way and the right alternative to fighting wars that lead to regression in terms of our evolution as a race. In the next few pages, you will see our rendition of what #makeContent- NotWar means to us, via a photo essay of sorts.
Having power does not necessitate using, or rather misusing power. An example could be the Ninja H2 that we have here, the world’s fastest street-legal production motorcycle and yet, it needs to be ridden on the road like any other motorcycle. Similarly, in today’s age, social media is a powerful tool. Capable of starting wars if misused and stopping wars if put to good use. The difference between the two is a choice that we have to make.
Being able to wield power (and being fortunate enough to get to), comes with a massive chip on the wielder’s shoulder. It is tempting and it takes every ounce of willpower not to misuse it. The power of social media is such that it can influence and seed ideas in impressionable minds. The type of influence, again, comes down to what one chooses; depending on whether you’d like to pass the next kid that waves at you at full clip or riding sanely and within the confines of traffic laws.
With power on tap, it is easy to get corrupted by the intoxication that arises out of that power. One misstep can result in a disaster. A supercharged rev-bomb might be good content but one must also consider the after-effects where some part of the audience might be looking to replicate what one does for content creation. A sense of responsibility is important in the cases of both H2 and social media.
Bigger, better, faster, more powerful… these are all comparative degrees capable of both profound negativity and impactful positivity. The urge to outdo is overpowering but while healthy competition breeds betterment, needless comparisons lead to stuff that is better left confined to the history books. Even on social media, what one shows and how they show it has a big impact on people where the intensity of the impact depends on what they show and the direction depends on how they show it.
One of the world’s most powerful street-legal naked motorcycles is a fine example of earth-shattering power. The sort of power that is dangerous if the wielder is prone to provocation. That provocation exists in both the real and the virtual world. Maybe one sees someone riding in a certain manner and tries to replicate it without learning more about the skills involved; it usually does not end well. That is why content generation is a task laden with more responsibilities than it looks.
If one has the power to reach millions of people, one must exercise utmost control and caution. Without that, most of the people watching would be trying to replicate this power instead of focusing on where they should be. Furthermore, how they wield this power is going to decide whether the people they reach are impacted positively or negatively. It is easy to be swayed and misuse power but it is more rewarding to exercise restraint and think of the bigger picture that entails moving to the future but sans the mistakes of the past.
This article was published in the Dec’22-Jan’23 Issue of the xBhp Print Magazine.
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