Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; July 28, 2020)

Social media is fun, but it’s also time consuming — this is the thought behind Richa Chadha’s decision to make her Twitter account private. “I realised that I spent nine hours in a week on the platform. I have several things to complete, and I can’t meet any deadlines with this waste of life on social media. I haven’t vacated my space, but just made the account private to limit engagement, because I have to finish a book I started writing,” says the actor, 36.

A lot has been spoken about toxicity on social media affecting one’s mental well being. Of late, a number of Bollywood celebs, including actors Sonakshi Sinha, Aayush Sharma and Saqib Saleem, quit Twitter due to negativity on the platform. Undoubtedly, incessant trolling, threats, etc takes a toll. Chadha, however, does not take social media too seriously, and says it’s a “medley and battle of bits, bytes and bots based on algorithms and can’t replace human interaction”.

“The platform is toxic because the world has become toxic. People take advantage of anonymity to find relevance and vent. This is the behaviour of cowards and must not be taken seriously,” she asserts.

There is, indeed, negativity on social media, but it has its advantages as well. Chadha is thankful that she isn’t addicted to social media, and admits that she has had her fair share of positive interactions on the platform. “As an artiste, you are pleasantly surprised to find fans in Norway and Turkey, thanks to social media. You may not get to know how loved you are either, if you aren’t online, in certain cases. I love social media, but like everything else in life, it has its demons,” she signs off.