Is social media,
in fact, the opposite of what it implies? Is it an all out misnomer or has our image of 'society' just completely transformed, or mutated rather, from a toxic pool of self-importance?
Social media in general, is supposed to be a means of keeping in touch
with the past and present, old and new, is it not? Oh, but let's not forget that it has also turned into everyone's soapbox and sounding board. Now don't get me wrong, I am not wholly against social media... Now wouldn't that be something! A blogger blogging about how social media has made everyone think that their opinion matters and have become overly self-important! Who wants to talk hypocrisy at it's finest! Ha!
I am all for being able to get up on my high-horse once in a while but must remain cognizant that it does not come without it's consequences. That one must beware not to slip into it's black hole....
Imagine a high-school reunion; past friends and lovers. As in high-school,
social media seems to be a competition of who has the most friends, who is popular, who can disillusion the most unsuspecting souls to believe in their cause.
People are so caught up in having the most ‘likes’ that they will reach out to
their past, even to people they wouldn’t befriend in person, just to feel
important. They will “undervalue and
unmend” their physical relationships in order to stay current with their online
world.
Has the digital domain become so important? More than that of our physical, tangible world? I sure as hell hope not. I admit, I'm not a phone talker, I'm not a grocery store line chit-chatter, but in all honesty I rather be forced to be social in the check-out line than to know people are purposely ignoring their surroundings just to check their instragram account to see how many likes their well filtered picture of their abs have gotten them.
Ok, ok now that you've stopped cursing me...I have made the ab pic post. I know. I have my issues, I admit that. Who doesn't want tenacious admiration for a picture one knows that they got the best lighting, best filter they could? Isn't this what we all struggle with? Don don don!!!! Body image! Yep, I said it and you know it. Why the hell else do we post pictures of ourselves for the world to judge? We all want justification for how we look from everyone else but ourselves.
Of course it's cliche. Why the hell would I be writing about it if it weren't a buzzword? How audacious we become in the virtual world. As a former archaeology student, what happened to just plain survival? Has acceptance from strangers become the new continuance in this world? Is this the new 'survival of the fittest'? Survival of who seems the most fittest in the best light with the X-Pro II filter?
Yes, I am judging, but from the view of someone who struggles from being judged. Or at least from the perception of always being judged. And that's probably my downfall. And in the end, probably 90 some-odd percent of the population. Let's just admit it, we body shame ourselves. We really don't need to worry about others doing it, we do enough on our own!
Social media makes those who are normally non-confrontational
start to become opinionated and those who are already outspoken become even
more exaggerated. It turns into ‘he
said, she said’ gossip, much like what we experienced as children and
teenagers.
Should we feel bad about our own possible
overuse of social media? The pursuit to become famous online
might overshadow the shame one feels for abandoning their real life. In addition, people seem to have no
shame and post everything about their personal lives. The line “Let one’s search for God become
public domain” says to me that every little thing a person is going through,
every feeling they are feeling, every battle they are fighting is broadcasted
to the world. Nothing is off limits,
nothing is sacred anymore. People have become self-important and have this
notion that everything they are doing, not doing, or eating is something that
the world should know about. And it
should be liked, by all of their friends and friends of friends.
In the end, the term ‘social media’ is a bit of a misnomer. To be social is to seek the companionship of
others. It is to be involved in society. I suppose it is not such a misnomer
but that our sense of ‘society’ has changed.
To engage in society and build relationships is now viewed as more of an
online activity than a physical one.
However, the more social one becomes online, the more alienated they become
from society as it relates to engaging physically. Facebook has become the “altar of loneliness”. People
strive to become worshipped online in exchange for alienation from the physical
world. Even in the physical presence of others, we constantly check our phones
to see the progress of our popularity; have we successfully over-inflated our importance
today?
