07/12/2026
At this point, I’m convinced that “CoNtEnT CrEaTiOn” is going to be one of the biggest contributors to the mental health epidemic over the next decade.
The rate with which the “influenzaaas” are increasing is concerning and even sickening.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about people who actually have something to teach. The internet gave us unprecedented access to scientists, psychologists, doctors, artists, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, comedians and experts who spent decades mastering their craft. Social media simply became the medium through which they could reach the world. That’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about the epidemic of people who confuse having a smartphone with having something worth broadcasting. Somewhere along the way, “creating content” stopped meaning creating something of value from your heart and started meaning documenting your very existence in a way that pleases the algorithm.
Wake up? Content.
Make coffee? Content.
Go to the gym? Content.
Buy a new car? Content.
Get engaged? Content.
Get married? Congratulations. You are now a couple’s content page.
Have a baby? Congratulations again. Your child has unknowingly become part of the content strategy.
We have somehow reached a point where simply existing in public has become a profession.
The algorithm doesn’t reward wisdom. It rewards attention. And attention is far easier to capture through outrage, vanity, thirst traps, fake pranks, staged generosity, scripted polarising interviews, exaggerated emotions, and clickbait-y thumbnails than through actual competence.
This kind of content is deliberately designed to hijack people’s attention and ‘rot their brain’, which in turn leads to more consumption of similar low-quality content which in turn leads to more creation of cheap content. Notice the vicious cycle?
And here’s the irony. I don’t think this system is even good for the creators.
Yes, some make absurd amounts of money. But when your identity becomes tied to views, likes, comments, shares, and followers, you slowly stop asking, “What do I believe?” and start asking, “What will perform?” That’s a dangerous trade. Because slowly and gradually, your authenticity gets replaced by a persona, integrity gets compromised, and self-confidence gets replaced by truckloads of insecurities, fuelling mental health challenges.
The only guaranteed winners in this entire ecosystem are the billion-dollar companies that monetise every second of our attention.
I genuinely don’t know what the solution is. But I refuse to believe that this is a healthy direction for society. What exactly is the message that we are giving to our coming generation - visibility matters more than competence? Attention matters more than contribution?
