Is Our Addiction to Internet Fame a Cry to God?”

We’ve heard the saying — “The grass is always greener on the other side.”

It’s often a benign line from our favorite rom-coms, or 90’s sitcom. But this quote actually derived from a first century poet, Ovid, who once said, “The harvest is always richer in another man’s field.” In other words, the strive to attain what we believe we’re missing is literally millennia old. But here’s the thing, research has proved that acquiring “greener grass” not only doesn’t suffice our voids, or isn’t as enjoyable as we envisioned, but actually creates more desolation for ourselves.

And we’re seeing it more profoundly in our Digital Era. Let’s face it, things have become a bit out of control. Before the big bang of social media, there used to be a high barricade around the “traditional fame.” In order to attain it, one had very few ways to go about it. One could become an actor like Denzel, a singer like Britney, a professional athlete like Kobe, a supermodel like Tyra, or do something novel like Walk on the Moon. But since the overtaking of YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter — fame is now more accessible to the general public. The monopoly of celebrity is no longer owned by Hollywood. There’s 24-hour access to consume famous stars’ seemingly glamorous lives by scrolling our thumbs.

Currently, all one needs is one moment to shock the internet; and go from a pedestrian to Addison Rae, Logan Paul, or Bhad Bhabie. But one rule still stands, there’s a figurative 15-minute window before the shockwave fizzles out. And after the first spark, like a campfire, it takes other strikes (i.e. audience engagement, Instagram posts, TikTok videos, the so called “it” factor), to transform the fleeting flames into an infinite blaze.

And because of this new social media fame, one can say it’s arguably rivaling Hollywood’s territory. The red ropes that once traditionally blocked 99% of us from getting inside, is losing security at the door. Perhaps, that’s why there’s such a decline in record sales and award show viewings — the idea of “becoming a celebrity” is less far-fetched.

But even the famous are coming from behind the velvet ropes — warning those waiting in line that the grass on the other side is indeed “greener,” but only because it’s synthetic.