THIRDRAFT

For a generation whose life mantra is YOLO, their one life is quite filled with fear. This fear overpowers all, and it is the one of missing out! This omnipresent feeling never lets them settle, or skip plans, because that would be a disaster. They pretend to be carefree, then why is cancelling a meet up or not being able to go for an overpriced concert, evokes such a negative feeling for Gen Z? Is it personal or because of the glamorous world of Instagram?

“I don’t feel like I will have that feeling before an event, but when I see people having fun on social media, then it really hits me that I have missed out on something- that makes me quite overwhelmed,” shared Ananya Yadav, a 23-year-old law graduate from Bennett University, Noida. Ananya has made impulse purchases many times (especially from Zara sale) even when she did not need things. “That burnt a hole in my pocket,” she added.

Social media has changed the way we all live- many do things only so that they can post on Instagram. These views and likes add no value to our real lives, but we still crave for them. One recent activity that has been sending waves of this FOMO across, is attending concerts. People who have never even heard the artiste, are spending thousands just for the experience, or maybe to just upload to a story- who knows?

Dhairya Sachdeva is a 21-year-old student, at Shaheed Sukhdev college of business studies, pursuing Bachelors of Business Management and he remarked that especially after Covid, the value for offline experiences has increased. Concerts are quite fun, but only if you pay a hefty amount and get to stand ahead. Otherwise, even getting a glimpse of the artiste is a task. “I do feel like I also have to experience it, or I will be the only one who hasn’t,”  he said.

The concert fever is so high, that there is a new booming business. This business has been started through Instagram, and tags you in stories of concerts. Get your flex (@getyourflex) is one such page. Featured in the Hindustan Times and Times of India, it gives the youth the power to flex an alternate life on social media- just for small fee! The page definitely saves you the embarrassment of not spending Rs.10000 for fanpit passes (why save ₨.10000? YOLO!)

Jhanvi Malik is 20-years-old and pursuing Fashion Communication at Pearl Academy in Delhi. She shared, “People of our generation feel this fear only because we drive on experience and now-a-days, every single activity is made to seem worth way more than it is, and shouldn’t be missed out on. I know for a fact that I have to make my own experiences, on my own budget and not just give into what everyone else is doing, whether I want to or not.”

Looks like the fever is not consuming the whole generation, there are still a few who consider the financial part of it, perhaps the most important. But the question we need to ask ourselves before queuing up for hours in front of a screen is- do I actually want to go, or is it only because Instagram told me to?