Skip to main content

INTIMACY: The Final Chapter

Leading Social Media Instead of Being Led by It

We’ve all felt it, that quiet pull into comparison, that moment when scrolling leaves us emptier than before, that feeling that you could’ve spent your time in a better way. This is the awakening, the realisation that the online world wasn’t built to nourish us; it was built to monetise our attention. And without meaning to, we’ve allowed it to reshape the way we see ourselves, connect with others, and experience intimacy.

But there’s good news, and it starts with awareness. Recognizing the distortion is the first act of reclaiming our agency.

Somewhere along the way, we began to believe that our value was tied to how we present ourselves online, how flawless we look, how exciting our lives appear, how desirable our relationships seem to outsiders. We’ve traded realness for reach, and depth for aesthetics. And in doing so, we’ve chipped away at the very things that make us human: vulnerability, presence, honesty. We shared everything, from breakups to breakfasts, with people we don't even know.

Reversing this isn’t about deleting every app or swearing off screens. It’s about using social media consciously. It’s about choosing to lead the way we use the digital space, rather than letting it lead us. Afterall, It’s a tool, not an extension of ourselves.

True emotional intimacy demands more than likes and responses. It requires time, proximity, and presence. The kind of presence that can’t be multitasked. The kind that lives in the warmth of a shared meal, the ache of laughter that bends you double, the stillness of sitting with someone and feeling the connection: the breath, the touch, the smell... all five senses engaged. In the digital world, this is absent; no emoji or text can convey the true sense of a person, no matter how good the writing skills are or how strong the emoji and meme game is. These moments of shared, one-on-one meetings are irreplaceable and cannot be replicated online.

So, maybe it’s time to reinvest in our real-world relationships. To be intentional about showing up, for friends, for lovers, for ourselves. Not as avatars, but as bodies in real time, in actual space. We need to relearn the rhythm of being together without performance, without an audience, without distractions.

And in doing so, we challenge one of the most insidious ideas social media has sold us: that intimacy is something to be consumed.

The truth is, real intimacy cannot be bought, downloaded, or staged. It’s not content. It’s not validation. It’s not for show. It is messy and life-affirming. It is co-created by people who care enough to be present and brave enough to stay. And when we believe that intimacy is performance, we lose the very thing we’re trying to find: belonging.

These platforms were designed to market, not just to keep us entertained. They also shape how we think, how we vote, how we love, how we see ourselves. And most of the time, it’s not for our benefit. The more distracted we are, the more we scroll. The more we compare, the more we consume. And the more we consume, the more the system profits. It’s not coincidence. It’s capitalism.

So yes, screw the Zuckerbergs of our tech age and their pseudo-realities. Screw the Metaverse. Screw the algorithms that trap us in cycles of envy and doomscrolling while profiting off our insecurities. But don’t stop there. Don’t just reject the system; repurpose it.

Use these same platforms to tell better stories. To call out injustice and racism. To fight genocide! To speak up for the disenfranchised. To amplify the voices that never gets heard. To imagine futures rooted in equity, creativity, and care. Make the digital realm work for you, not the other way around.


The Power of Media Literacy


But none of this matters if we are not media literate.

Without a critical lens, we are open vessels, ready to absorb every false promise, every manipulative message, every edited version of someone else’s truth. Media literacy is not optional anymore. It is survival. It means teaching ourselves to ask better questions, to notice who’s behind the content we consume, and to understand what it’s trying to make us feel or believe. When we become more conscious consumers, we start taking our power back.

And perhaps, most importantly, we begin to soften.

This new era we’re entering, it’s not about retreat. It’s not about going quiet or going cold. It’s about softening in a world that tells us to harden. It's about spreading love instead of hate. It's about believing that we are all equal and that no one is superior. It's about celebrating our differences and finding common ground in our similarities. It is about uplifting instead of putting each other down. It's about putting humanity before profits and reclaiming tenderness as strength. It’s about allowing ourselves to feel, to care deeply, to build slowly, to be whole. And more than anything else, to protect the vulnerable and to not look away and be silent in the face of atrocities.

Softness is not weakness. It is the key to unlocking the warrior in each and every one of us.

So, let’s have this conversation, again and again. Let’s keep peeling back the filters and keep asking better questions. Let’s hold each other gently, but firmly. And hold each other to account. Let’s build a new culture of connection, where presence is prized, where intimacy is earned, and where being human, fully and messily human, is the goal.

Because the future of how we connect depends on how brave we’re willing to be now.

Are you brave enough?

Have you spoken up for Palestine?

Or is your silence still deafening?

Comments

Popular Posts