‘How casually some people say cruel things online that they would never dare say in person.’

Photograph: Kind courtesy Zeenat Aman/Instagram

Taking to her Instagram handle, Zeenat Aman wrote about taking an ‘unplanned social media break.

‘Well, hello there!….I took an unplanned social media break. Mostly because I got tired of seeing my own face on my grid! This time to myself really led me to ruminate on how different the world is today from when I started out. It’s quite unrecognisable from what I lived through in the 70s.’

‘I am fascinated by what the Internet, and more specifically social media, has done to society. There are both pros and cons, of course. At some level, social media has democratised the idea of fame.

‘Today, anyone with a little talent, luck and a smartphone can build a career that would have been impossible without immense privileges back in the day. Yes, there’s a lot of online noise, but there is also honest talent that now has a platform.’

‘On the other hand I am very cautious of the culture of easy outrage that has proliferated online. And how casually some people say cruel things online that they would never dare say in person.

‘To me this indicates a bored society that has forgotten how nuanced the world, and each person in it, is!

‘To invalidate, tear down, and sully people for the smallest of indiscretions is absolutely counter to my approach, which is dialogue, and sometimes the acceptance that opinions can differ, and that’s okay.’