When we access the lives of people around us, we are essentially comparing ourselves with them, using them as a benchmark to how our lives are going. If they are suffering, we feel secure and happy. If the people we watch are having a gala time, we get envious or motivated but learn new things we didn’t know before. We are basically picking up the cues and learning the rules of life.

It is a way of coping with the unique challenges and constraints of the current times, making sense of the world in flux.

Voyeurism, something that was a reality much before reality TV and Instagram stories have always been part of human instinct, and are often illicit or sexual in nature.

Social media, reality TV and entertainment sections of mainstream media have turned us all into voyeurs. The pandemic has...