The superficiality of social media

Seems like a bit of an oxymoron to me.  While I do have a blog, I don’t post every minute action of my life to social media.  I’m old school (or just old according to my teenage son) whereas I have a Facebook account.

Why do people feel the need to share everything on social media? Is it the need to be validated by others? I’ve connected with many old friends on Facebook, which is great, but you won’t see what I made for dinner the night before. I recently saw a photo of a Facebook friend’s minor child, bloodied in the ER.  His first stitches she gasped. The kid looked mortified.

Another post was a friend who went on TV without having eyebrow make up on.  People commenting that she was so brave, WTF! Granted she was on an infomercial program for her cosmetic studio, but brave for going out without her eyebrows on?? Brave is someone who runs into a burning building and rescues people or pets.

What about the person who posts 50 plus photos of their child’s birthday, first tooth, etc.  Or the people who post cryptic messages, begging people to ask them why they are sad, mad, fat, etc.?? Why do people feel the need to put so much of their lives out there for the whole world to see?  Does anyone really care? I know I don’t. I have a distant relative who once posted 500 photos of her kid’s sporting event.

When did we as a society become so completely self-absorbed? While I may take photos of my food when I dine out, it’s because I write reviews for TripAdvisor, Google, etc.  What happened to living in the moment instead of photographing the crap out of it and posting it all on social media?

I recently attended a function called China Lights.  It was Chinese sculptures entirely made of silk that had lights on the inside.  It would have been so much better if every person in front of us didn’t have to stop and take endless selfies. I could see one or two, but every flipping sculpture had a multitude of knuckleheads taking a crap ton of photos. I went last year and took some photos, but it wasn’t very crowded, and I made sure I wasn’t in anyone’s way.

I’m always amazed when I see some viral video where something terrible is happening to someone, and people stand around filming it.  What happened to being a decent human being and helping the person instead? What a concept!

I wish more people would be more involved in helping others than documenting every mundane aspect of their lives on social media.  I have more respect for the unassuming person who helps others, not the braggarts who feel you need to see what they had for breakfast.

social_media_freak 10-22-17

41 thoughts on “The superficiality of social media

  1. Oh my gosh. YES! Great post. I wholeheartedly agree. Social media and all the expectations to post every pivotal moment (or mundane ones) is exhausting! I recently wished an acquaintance happy birthday via text and when she replied, she reprimanded me for not posting pics of my kids regularly enough. Ugh. I prefer to live my life. It’s a tough balance. I agree that it all feels painfully superficial.

  2. I hate it too, but I don’t know how else to be connected to this shitty world. I can’t connect with people in person…the internet is a life saver for me, because I’d be totally cut off without it.

      • How do you know it will though? Nothing wrong with being introverted anyway…but I have awful social skills and most likely your son also needs the internet. although I agree social media sucks, especially Facebook

      • Oh no I wasn’t offended or anything. Just sometimes I go on the defensive for no real reason.

        My mum is your age (a little older) I’m not sure if it’s a generational thing. If it is, there are going to to be a lot of very lonely millennials in 30 years time

  3. Knuckleheads is right.
    Particularly us Americans. I read an article about service last year. The gist of it was how from the guest perspective, restaurant service is declining. But on the flip side, the restaurant staff and business owners, it’s actually getting harder to make money. Mainly because as costs continue to increase, the number of tables that can be seated per night is declining…mostly because of people taking pictures of their meal before they eat it and then sending it back because it got cold!
    Ugh.

  4. Thank you for this article, I so hope the “world” reads your words, and basically stop being ghouls, and start using their own time and energies in more positive ways…..

  5. Thanks for the share.
    What you are talking about is “A Sterile Society”. Not in the sense of reproduction, yet rather a dull boring and at times mindless people. I am not making fun of them, nor am I Mr. Hollywood.
    What the many folks you described is just something that most can live with out. They probably have a big void in their life and need to fill it with something, anything. We all need something a bit more fulfilling and substantial.

  6. I agree with you 100%, live for the moment and not for the camera. Imagine how much life our society has missed b/c of this self obsession. When ur with someone, really BE with them.

  7. A couple of comments come to mind. Can’t you turn off the spigot of those that bore you? Second, people do have different needs and are in horrendously different circumstances. I have three, I guess.

  8. The reply space wouldn’t give me another line, so this is a continuation. I assume everyone in the USA (almost) is currently suffering from PTSD, so every sign that someone’s alive is ok in my book.
    I like your blog and basically in some way agree with everything you say.: > )

  9. Social media can be difficult. I agree that you don’t have to share single moment and I try to share things that are important to me, things that make me happy etc. I especially have a weird love-hate feeling for Facebook, it is my least favourite social media and I think to myself so many times why don’t I just delete it? I basically only keep it to stay updated with my favourite musicians and to enter competitions lol.

  10. Agree one hundred percent. I posted a photo on FB of my breakfast plate after I had finished the boiled eggs, and apologized for the lateness of the picture.

  11. Pingback: YouTube Tuesday: How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day | Tristan Harris – The Bee Writes…

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