Now, call me crazy, but as a generation, haven’t we become so self-obsessed with ourselves, our lives, our opinions, our careers,our hedonistic attitudes, basically everything to do with ‘ME’. So, some may say that I’m stating the obvious here and I know that. Thanks to a little thing called individualism, (we love America) Facebook has high-lighted self promotion. Resulting in people reveling in their new profile photos every week, new statuses every hour and some seriously deep concentration into the art form of appearing both witty and lovely online, not forgetting popular, revealing to the world just what a cool cat you really are.
I, of course, am guilty of all these things. Seeing a flattering photo of yourself on your friend’s camera and pestering him/her to put it up on Facebook. Or, being at a so-called ‘cool’ restaurant or bar and ‘checking yourself in’. Embarrassing, oh yes, unbelievably.
It has become a universal truth now (well for reasonably thinking people) that on Facebook you can be anyone you want, create up a front which in essence isn’t you. You can edit together this wonderful life via Facebook to give off a chosen impression or particular version of yourself in how you want to be perceived by the Facebook world.
This really rang truth to me when a good friend sadly suffered with depression. She would come to me crying about life on a regular basis. However, on Facebook ‘her life’ appeared very different indeed. On her page, she thoroughly enjoyed life, with her beautiful photo shopped pictures, status updates of how amazing the previous night was, the part time career of working in a major high street shop and numerous holiday albums with her boyfriend, she fronted that she was so happy and content.
During 2011 I found myself saying, almost weekly, ‘arghh I’m deleting Facebook.. it’s stupid’ or something to that affect. I considered after Christmas completely cutting myself off from social media, not to be controversial,certainly not, or even to portray a ‘new hipster outlook’ on Facebook, but it was for my own sanity and well-being!
I find it bemusing how people can go on Facebook four, five times a day just to upload a photo or update a status which they think screams to Facebook ‘I’M FUN, SOCIABLE AND BUSY’. When in reality, it screams ‘I’m self conscious, self absorbed and painfully self aware.’ Living a real life and enjoying life to it’s absolute fullest doesn’t include wasting each day promoting yourself on Facebook. I guess the thing I’m getting at is, if you really do lead such an exciting, free life then you are genuinely too busy to update to the world that you’re having such a fantastic time.
I think like most things, Facebook will phase out due to boredom and people generally getting tired of almost proving something to an online audience. Privacy as a whole will be restored, very much appreciated and exercised in future. Implying that the beauty of mystery and curiosity with be gained back into people’s lives-I hope.
So, here’s to the year of 2014.
