OK so this is
something I find I come back to in my mind all the time. So obviously it means
something to me… so I am going to write about it. This was spurred on by a
video I watched last night (ironically) on Facebook. It was talking about how
the accumulation of friends on social media might actually be causing more
loneliness in our lives. The theory was basically (this is solely my interpretation
so you may feel 100% opposite which is fine!) that human beings really only
have the capacity to genuinely know about 150 people. If you look back into
history this is actually kind of apparent. Tribes and groups of people tended
be focused on smaller groups, typically centered around families. I think
humans are wired for this. Look back… all throughout history the trend has
always been… as soon as an area gets too crowded, we move away… we find a less
populated area to settle… in American history this was the westward expansion. Back
in the day in order to have a genuine relationship with someone we had to
physically spend time with them. You had to CREATE memories with people. You
might only get a couple phone calls a month, or even further back a couple of
letter sent out each year so you made sure even through those indirect means
that you included as much detail as possible. When families and friends get
together from out of town have you ever noticed how much different your time is
spent with them versus when you are just hanging with your friends you see
everyday? We tend to unplug, put down the Ipads and Iphones and might actually
go a few hours without checking facebook. OK sorta got off topic there…
Let me try and bring
it back to the original idea.
Social Media.
I really think
social media is destroying our society. Not that I am saying it is totally bad.
There are some great uses and benefits from it. Like providing means to stay
updated with friends and families that live out of town. BUT……………….hold on. This
“benefit” might also be a massive detriment. Now that we can follow others
lives on facebook or whatever, it allows us to perceive that we are staying
up-to-date with there lives without putting any effort into the relationships.
Now we can “know” 1000 people without “knowing” any of them. Its sad. I am
totally a victim of it too. I cant tell you how many times ive been like … hmm I
wonder how Johnny is doing… maybe I should call him… or I can just check his
facebook…. O look! He went to the beach yesterday and had a birthday two weeks
ago and his family took him to Olive Garden. I know everything about his life…
no need to call. SERIOUSLY I do that all the time. I could tell you soo much
about soo many people yet I don’t know the first thing about any of there lives.
I know all the THINGS. PLACES. STILL SHOTS of there lives… but I don’t know
them. I don’t know what they enjoy, there personality, its easy to fake a smile
or only post the positive statuses, or the pretty pictures. We can edit,
delete, fake, lie with everything we post. We are creating fake lives for
everyone to “know” of us. I did it. I faked smiles everyone we took pictures
and posted them on facebook. I would write a status or an update and take a few
minutes to get the wording JUST RIGHT so people would think all is well! When really
the last 2 years have been some of the darkest periods in my life. Go look at
my facebook… would you know? NOT A CHANCE! We have the power to edit
everything. Hence the concept of us feeling more lonely as a whole. Everyone
knows how crappy you feel when you totally lie to someone about how you are
doing. You feel empty, guilty, LONELY. Why do some many more people seem to be
depressed nowadays. We have fabricated (EDITED) our lives to appear so
wonderful to everyone else. When we really step back… we realize… crap… my life
is not really like that at all. Or man I wish I really did feel like my status
says! Or… dang! Look at all the fun THEY are having!
WHICH……………………………….brings me to the single one thing I despise
about social media.
We have created OCD. No not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Obsessive COMPARISON disorder.
Like I said earlier social media allows us to edit anything
we put out there before we hit “post”.
This… like I said … allows us to hand pick the best
pictures, best quotes, best anything.
I don’t care what anyone says… we have all seen posts or
something from someone and been like MAN! Their lives are so much better or so
much more fun than mine. Look how many cruises they took this year, or how in
the world can they go to the beach every day! I want their job! We all see
everything everyone else is doing and I think it is just a natural reaction by
humans to feel like we need to “keep up with the Jones’s” It irritates me. Of
course im about to wrap this up and use Facebook as a platform to spread my
blog so I feel like I am completely contradicting everything I just said. But seriously
social media taking over our lives. Many of us can not do anything without
posting something about it. We tend to miss so many moments in life because we
have to try to hard to get a picture of it so we can post it on facebook and
prove we were there. ENJOY LIFE! Put the stupid phones away and LIVE!
I concur. I get tickled when someone invites me to be their "friend" on facebook, but I hardly even know them. Even worse, I rarely take the extra step and become their real friend.
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