One Direction Goes in Two Directions

The top trending phrase on twitter, worldwide, on Thursday afternoon was this: #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik.

Also trending were other hash-tag words  #ByeZayn and #TwoDirections, with millions of posts on Twitter and Facebook; all about that shocking news that hit the world of tweens.

Twenty-two year old Zayn Malik’s departure from One Direction, the boy band that rocked the first half of 2010s, caused enormous, almost seismic, upheavals in the social media world yesterday.

If asked about 1D’s band members, the only member’s name I would remember – and, I am sure, any average adult would remember - is the name of Zayn Malik.

And when this central piece on the board goes away, how can the game go on? That is the question many devastated young girls, tweens and teens, around the world are asking.

His statement to media on Wednesday, however, was this: “I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight”.

Three or four years years ago, I still remember how excitedly my daughter, who had just turned eleven then,  said to me that she and her friends are now ‘Directioners’.

I had corrected her and said it should be “Directors” because there is no such word as “Directioners”.
She had quickly retorted, “You don’t know anything! My friends and I love the band One Direction, and its fans are called ‘Directioners’”.

I was introduced thus, to this boy band, which in 2010, after finishing third on ‘The X Factor’, signed-up with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records.

The band’s four albums saw incredible international success, thanks to social media which accelerated their rise to stardom.

And it is the same social media, I suspect, that eventually broke them up.

Even before he tweeted, seven days ago, 'I'm 22 years old... I love a girl named Perrie Edwards”, rumours were rife about his relationship which had had many of his female fans angry.

On social media, where  fans have access to everything that their idol says, and vice versa - in real time - it could be dangerous.

When you can see instant reactions, and when your friends, family and colleagues tell you what to share and what not to share, you could become highly stressed.

Now, there’s hate stuff on that girl too. Perrie Edwards is being compared to Yoko Ono, the love-interest of late John Lennon, who is still blamed for the break-up of The Beatles.

Anyway, from Beach Boys and Beatles of the 1960s to Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, of the 1990s, we know that boy-bands, like many other bands do break up. But some individuals go on to become even more successful.

Even girl-bands like Spice Girls broke up, and members went on to make hugely successful solo careers.

But what is clear is this. In this age of social media where instant two-way communication between idols and their fans is possible, the pressures can be too much for young celebrities.

It can even push them over the edge evoking eccentric behaviour, like what we see from Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber.

Zayn Malik has an incredible voice and a vast fandom to reign on. And he’s probably done the right thing by calling it quits when the pressure became too much.

One Direction now has gone in two directions.

But, I believe, Zayn Malik’s solo career – if he handles social media effectively - can go in just one direction. Upwards.