In the past few days, I have seen the peak of entitlement on my social media platforms. It has made me think whether we’re doing this whole humanity thing right. It’s disgusting the way people think you owe them something just because you chose to put some content out there. I know it must probably seem like I’m always online on my socials, the way I write about them on my post, and it would be true. It allows me to see the world from a wider perspective, even if it’s just through a tiny, 6-inch window.
Yesterday, I got a random notification from somebody I didn’t even know saying that they’d added me to a list titled ‘U Dont deserve follow’. The person went to great lengths to create a whole new Twitter list for people who didn’t follow him back; lists on Twitter are visible to anybody and everybody on it. It’s not like I’m forcing anybody to follow me; if anybody is on my social channels, it’s because they liked my content and not because I made them do it unwillingly.
LMFAOOOOO, okay then! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/2g6tK3nyLD
— Shubhangi Srinivasan (@_The_Shubhster_) November 12, 2019
What’s more shocking is that a number of people actually defended this person saying that he made this list ‘simply for his personal use’. You either follow somebody or don’t; you don’t make lists with the names of people you unfollowed so you can check back on them later. That’s some kind of twisted nightmare that I was dragged into, and I am still unable to wrap my head around how horrifying it is to be randomly on a hate-list because you didn’t choose to follow somebody back on your social media.
This whole list reeks of entitlement. I don’t follow certain people back because I’m simply not interested in the stuff they tweet. No one’s forcing anybody to follow me and those who do are here because they like what I tweet. This dudebro obviously needs to get a damn life.
— Shubhangi Srinivasan (@_The_Shubhster_) November 12, 2019
It doesn’t even end here. I’ve come across people who have asked me out without barely even having one conversation with me before, and none of them has been able to handle rejection properly. They’ve always all lashed out at me and called me a string of very colourful slurs and swear words because I didn’t show any kind of interest in them. I might not be naming anybody here today, but I am certainly not going to hold back. This isn’t just about me. It’s about every single one of my girl friends— they’ve all had to deal with people who couldn’t handle being rejected.
And I know that even men go through similar situations. But this isn’t about some kind of gender-targeted war. It’s about the fact that there are people out there who will lash out at you for no reason at all, no matter how politely you turn them down. Entitlement reaches new lows every single day, entitled people further still. And here’s what I have to tell all of you: you owe these people nothing. Not a follow-back, not a conversation, not a photo of you smiling, not your number, not your other social media handles. Nothing!
It’s that simple! You don’t need to put up with things that make you uncomfortable or drain you out, whether it’s physically, mentally or emotionally, because doing so would mean that you’re denying yourself the basic respect that you deserve. Entitlement doesn’t have to come from the outside world, either. Recognizing the signs is very important if you want to remove all this trash from your life. It all comes down to a very little word with oceans’ worth of meaning, and the word is ‘consent’.
Think about it. Anybody who is forcing you to do something you’re not comfortable with is invading your privacy and ignoring the fact that you have not given your consent. In case you aren’t able to politely decline these people, talk to somebody you trust about it and seek their help. Entitled people are walking, talking red-flags that we all need to stay away from, and it’s about damn time we realized how problematic they are.
I don’t know what I am more shocked at sometimes. I don’t know if it’s at the number of entitled people or the number of people who defend them saying that their behaviour isn’t problematic. Well, whether it is problematic or not isn’t for anybody to decide except for those who have been directly subjected to the kind of hate that follows the entitlement. A lot of people I know, myself included, have had to deal with people who think they are entitled to our friendship or a romantic relationship simply because we showed them an ounce of human behaviour.
And before you can say, ‘Oh, this is normal. Just ignore them,’ I want you to know that you saying that makes you a part of the problem. Unless and until society as a whole stops normalizing this entitled behaviour, a lot of us aren’t going to see it for how problematic it really is. Talk to your loved ones. See if anything’s bothering them. It might not seem like a very serious issue right now, but the more you talk to people, the more you’ll find out just how rampant this disgusting behaviour is.
Know better. Know that you owe nobody anything.
Cheerio! Xx
Hey guys! I hope you liked this post. Let me know in the comments below or share with someone you might wanna show this to! You can also reach out to me and say ‘Hi’ on Twitter and Instagram. I’ll look forward to hearing from you.
Yours truly,
The Shubhster.
Photo by Daniel Herron on Unsplash
The Shubhster Diaries 
This is new kind of hate.
No need to think too much to think about these kind of thoughts.
Come-on let’s celebrate the life with good deeds and your good thoughts expressed by u in your blog.
All the best for courageous expression.
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This is not hate. This is a problem deep-rooted in society because of something called entitlement, and it gives rise to a lot of hate crimes. Ignoring it doesn’t make it all go away. If addressing this on my blog helps people recognize the signs and fight against such scum in the society, I can and I will write about it.
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