Nowadays many of us are getting sucked under the influence of these weapons of mass distraction we call social medias, where we are not just stimulated to see the content created by others but also enticed to create our own content in the form of photos, reels, articles, videos and so on. In this way, we are conditioned by our overlords to contribute to their efforts to increase the audience of their services, and when we do we are rewarded with likes, shares, or even a few comments.
The ones who are successful in this game can amass a huge number of followers and become celebrities. Followers are nowadays a symbol of status, just like personal beauty or money, and many work really hard to increase the magical number, even at the expense of other areas of their lives.
Just like in other trends of modern life, devotees are not immune to this. Just like regular people tend to worship the so-called influencers, a devotee who has a lot of followers on Instagram, or subscribes on Youtube is often more respected. Just like there are people who judge us based on physical beauty, money, or mundane education, there are also devotees who judge us based on our number of followers. To some people, we have indeed more or less value as individuals according to the number of followers we have.
Although we understand philosophically that material fame and status are ephemeral, we may be tempted to enter into the game and try to also increase our number of followers and subscribers. That’s when we have to take a very long and deep breath.
In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krsna explains that there are three types of work: Karma (pious work, that produces auspicious material results), Akarma (transcendental activities that destroy our previous Karma and gradually elevate us to the transcendental position), and Vikarma (impious activities that result in negative reactions).
Everyone has to work, but one can choose between working in some area that benefits people (be it spiritually or materially) or opening a beer factory for example. One who works doing activities that gradually bring people to Krsna Consciousness practices Akarma, one who works in activities that contribute to the gradual improvement of society practices Karma, and one who works in activities that contribute to the degradation of society practices Vikarma. In any of the three scenarios we will, in the short-term, receive the fruits we are entitled to according to our past Karma, but the long-term consequences of the three types of work will be very different. Karma makes us materially prosperous, Akarma makes us advance in spiritual life, while Vikarma results in future misery.
This concept is so important because it can be applied to all kinds of activities we do, including social medias.
One thing I learned about social medias is that we need to produce some content that will be beneficial for society, then however comes, comes. One may have ten million followers or he or she may have just 10, but the important thing is that the people who are seeing our posts get something positive out of it. Maybe one can get millions of followers by showing his buttocks, but how will this benefit people? If we can reach a number of people by doing something that may attract them to Krsna Consciousness, or help them in their spiritual life, that’s wonderful. This will certainly help us also. However, there is no point in attracting a number of followers by just posting things that will distract them and increase their material fever. This will not bring any good results for them or for us.