What a week it’s been – first the Facebook data scandal and then the Grab-Uber deal in South-east Asia, and at the heart of it, our identities; The former led to outrage that we could have been so manipulated by marketers targeting our social profiles (we always have been, it’s just the scale is so outrageous these days) and wondering if we should #deletefacebook.

Some did it for a week and then announced, “I’m back” – not sure what they were trying to prove, that they’re as addicted as the rest of us? Truth is, we – those who use social media – are in the midst of a mass addiction and just with any drugs, it’ll be hard to kick the habit.

I found myself changing my settings and then wondering should I delete? And then asking myself, what if I were to delete this, how would it affect that and that because it’s all owned by the same company?

Various parts of our identities are now owned by various companies controlled by one entity that we wonder if we delete one account, will we lose a part of us?

Who are we without our social media profiles? I found myself re-watching this video of Facebook’s former chief of user growth, Chalapath Palihapitiya, speaking of his regret for building tools that are ripping society apart.

I’ve seen my friends (and me too) gradually turn into zombies. It’s not an overnight thing, it’s a creep thing, all of us caught in the neither-here-nor-there land.

We’re present physically somewhere but we’re transported through our smartphone to a virtual world in which we are “liked” by so many people – so who cares about the person sitting right in front of me?

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