In this week’s social media round up, Ariba Shahid walks us through all the self declared economic experts as the budget looms. With talking heads everywhere and Profit preparing for budget, this week has been dominated by the impending proceedings on the floor of the house. Ecommerce, email etiquette, and more also feature in this week’s social media roundup.
- Seasonal experts
Not a single person who can differentiate between total external debt and debt servicing https://t.co/6vuaOj1PoH
— Ovais (@Sabbandkardo) June 10, 2021
Talk shows in Pakistan aren’t really educational or informative. This is especially true when these shows are to do with the economy. Talking heads on TV are a dime-a-dozen and everyone seems to have gotten it in their heads that they know how to fix the economy. So when Hassan Nisar and Irshad Bhatti types decide to do economic analysis, we can’t help but sit by and watch in horror.
Now, just to be clear, we don’t know quite how to fix the economy, and far be it for us to try and gatekeep analysis of the economy. But as everyone becomes an expert on the budget, we would implore you to be a responsible consumer of news, especially since most of its providers are absolutely not responsible.
This isn’t centric to ARY mentioned in the tweet, but across most channels. What does profit suggest? Leave the business news and analysis to business journalists. It’s fairly simple. In addition, we suggest you read print and web for a better understanding of the budget than to learn from some talk show host that loves drama for ratings.
- Condemned to become our parents
I have turned into a Yeh tou Ghar pey bhi ban Sakta hai type 😭
— Atiya (@bhumrobhumro) June 10, 2021
Most of us will be able to remember this moment. Coming home from school or being out somewhere with our parents, seeing the board for a food joint we loved and making a farmaish to stop and get some snacks, only to be told that we have the same food at home and the one at home is actually better, not to mention free. Back then, many of us will have promised ourselves that when we grow up and have our own money, we would be more free with spending it. We would never say no. However, now that we actually have grown old and our disposable incomes are smaller than what boomers had, this generation has resorted to turning into their parents.
- Budget night
Id just like to observe that this is the first Federal Budget in 10 years that I am spending out of the newsroom and it feels awesome. Being in the newsroom during budgets was so stressful. Im not even going to visit MoF website, this is my Hot Girl Summer™
— Waqas (@worqas) June 11, 2021
Truth be told, we’re partially jealous of Waqas’s hot girl summer because he does not have in front of him a long night full of stress, confusion over numbers, tears, at least two meltdowns, and deadlines hanging down his neck. That said, we are still on some level (partially) excited about covering the budget in detail. Budget night, much like election night, asides from the stress can also be a wonderful experience in a newsroom, and those eureka moments are almost always worth it. Stay tuned for Profit’s budget coverage. Think of it as a music festival but for nerds. Yes, we’re fun at parties. Please don’t judge us.
{Editor’s note: The magazine assumes no responsibility for its reporters claiming they are fun at parties.}
- Waiting on that teleportation machine
I track my packages soon as I hit confirm payment 😭
— 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚣𝚣⁶𓅓 (@CrusherShazz) June 10, 2021
Ecommerce is tricky. The worst part about it is having to wait for your order. If you’re anything like us, we like to check the tracker a hundred times a day hoping for the package to pop out of the screen. This is just one thing that e-commerce won’t be able to beat retail stores at: the feeling of walking out of a store with a brand new item you just bought, no delays. Well, that is until teleportation becomes a thing.
- All fun and games until …
It’s that time of the year again and I can’t wait for everyone to become economic experts and give their analyses of the budget. pic.twitter.com/xJuQSvMskL
— اسریٰ (@freakonomist5) June 11, 2021
Ah, that time of the year when everyone is an economist and analyst. It’s fun seeing how social media gives everyone the right to have an opinion on matters they have absolutely no clue about. And while in this instant it is all fun and games, we would like to give fair warning that some of these experts veer very quickly from the fun to the horrific.
- Moral dilemmas
Look, I realise forcing people to get the vaccine through punitive measures for refusers raises ethical and possibly legal issues, but we have seen what happened with polio and ‘personal choice’ so in this *particular* case, I don’t care.
— Zarrar Khuhro (@ZarrarKhuhro) June 10, 2021
There is a recent debate about how to drive up vaccination numbers. For instance, do we revoke CNICs? Block sims? Stop salaries? Or do we incentivize vaccinations? It’s an ethical debate. However, a country like Pakistan that still hasn’t defeated Polio will always find it hard to prop up vaccination if left to personal choice.
- To exclaim or not to exclaim?
Professional email etiquette is 50% adding exclamation marks to not seem angry and 50% removing exclamation marks so that you don’t seem unhinged
— Sara (@tinyredbook) June 9, 2021
We hate writing emails and are just as confused about exclamation points. It doesn’t get easier with time.
