Being a fan of someone's work is absolutely fine. It's healthy even, to a certain extent, since it helps liven up our otherwise monotonous daily schedules. All of us have a certain celebrity we adore and want to know all about. But for some people, the admiration turns into obsession and gets so out of hand that they start integrating it into their own identities. They idolise the person, put them up on a pedestal, and are ready to fight anyone who happens to have a different opinion on their favourite idol. I personally know many people like this. They have whole social media accounts dedicated to their favourite celebrity. They even celebrate their birthdays, anniversaries, and other whatnots by constantly posting on social media about them.

Although the older generation is very much involved in obsessing over celebrities too (like that uncle who keeps preaching aggressively about his favourite political leader at every family gathering), idolising them is more common in teenagers and young adults. Obsessing over TV/online personalities increases materialism in these individuals. They're never satisfied by the things they have since they're constantly comparing themselves to those absurdly rich people they look up to.

Being obsessed with celebrities' lives make people unhappy about themselves and make them question their own abilities. This also causes people to struggle with their own body image as they try to compare themselves to celebrities with seemingly 'perfect' physiques. All of this leads to an overall poor mental health and even forms mental disorders in severe cases like stalker tendencies and creating a skewed version of reality.

A lot of people fail to understand that celebrities and online personalities are just people doing their jobs. They may not be who we think they are in real life. People form cults and fandoms dedicated to their idols who, in their minds, can do no wrong. But as soon as they make one wrong move, everyone starts to 'cancel' them. These famous personalities have a media version of themselves and will most likely disappoint you since it's not humanly possible for a person to live up to all your expectations. We need to remember that these people with seemingly perfect lives are all human. No one is perfect, they have their own flaws and struggles too.

The saying: 'Never meet your heroes' is famous (and true) for a reason. Sharing a meme or two and telling people occasionally how you like that celeb is totally okay, but you have to know where to draw the line.

Afsara loves wasting time looking at memes. Send her more at fb.com/afsaraakhan