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The Ghibli Trend: Hidden Costs and the Dark Side You Need to Know
Exploring the ethical, environmental, and personal costs of the viral Ghibli trend
After a long time, I felt like posting on Instagram. The inspiration was the new flowers that had just started blooming. They looked so beautiful and made me happy. After all, it happens every year only during this month. It’s a long wait, but a good one.
I became so happy that I wrote a poem: The Flowers Are Coming Again. I wanted to share it with my online friends. So, I clicked a picture of flowers, added the poem in the caption, and started typing hashtags with the symbol #.
What happened next shocked me. Before I could start typing #flowers, Instagram suggested #Ghibli. I ignored it, posted with relevant hashtags, and closed the app.
However, I could not stop thinking about the incident. How difficult it is to stay away from viral trends!
While the Western population has grown up with movies, I can confidently say that the majority in India did not. Yet, they could not resist being part of the trend.
All this for a few likes and comments? Or is there more to it?