A person who ignores the power of technology won’t survive in this day and age. You can save the world by touching 140 character letters on a device. You can save someone, you can save yourself and you can damage the whole world if you use this the wrong way.
The evolution of mankind post social media has witnessed great changes. Today, people are living double lives. The real one that they were born with and a virtual one that they’ve created. We are more self conscious when it comes to outer appearances and we became more competitive exerting tremendous effort to fit in. We are living in a time that pleading for compliments is becoming publically authorized and getting positive comments has became a great expectation. Let’s be honest, we all know that when we take a photo of ourselves we want people to admire it, we aren’t sharing it for ourselves. With a click of a button, you know how many persons you know (or think you know) find you looking good or saying something right. As a matter of fact, sharing sometimes isn’t just about caring.
I don’t mean to press judgments as we are all creatures who need to feel beautiful, smart and funny through social communication, but we are running through a wrong path wearing the wrong shoes. In the past couple of years, men and women have started to abuse social media in order to feel great about themselves. Women are objectifying themselves with their own hands to beg for compliments. Being famous on Instagram or Twitter has become an untamed aim for some.
We share photos and take Selfies of our faces and outfits on daily basis. We can’t wear the same dress anymore because everyone saw it in a single picture. We think twice before sharing something that someone we like may not like it. We fear talking about political views in order not to get attacked, the thing contradicts the main goal of social media which is to feel free and easily engage and communicate. Unfortunately, that has been lost in translation through Hashtags and flooding Notifications.
We stalk each other comparing lives, looks and social statuses. Our whole life became a frenzy competition to get the most compliments. Bloggers boomed without a blog or a creativity skill, photographers emerged without experience or sleepless studying nights and girls obsessed with their shoes and bags made you jealous from their retail psychosis. Hours and hours are being wasted refreshing pages at work or in bed. Family gatherings became awkward from quieter conversations and louder notifications.
While some entrepreneurs took a great and healthy advantage of technology like building up small companies, activists who spread some honest words and people who spend time collecting donations via social media, others used it to fish for compliments and get ‘Liked’ to feel accepted and wanted.
There is a whole life out there full of adventures, intimate laughs and beautiful experiences and we are stuck in the virtual world scrolling up and down for nonsense but a virtual life that we’ve built with exertion. Our obsession with how we look in this virtual life has become pathetic.
Log out and take a breath.