Social Media and Its Curse

Sherry Turkle, Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tells us there's a "shift" from an analog world in which our identities are generated from within, to a digital world in which our sense of self is intimately tied to our social media presence.

But this shift to a Facebook world of incessant "friending," Professor Turkle correctly warns us, is a "seductive fantasy" which is weakening us both as individuals and as a society. The problem, she explains, is that a "capacity for solitude is what nurtures great relationships." But in today's always-on social media world, our solitude has been replaced by incessant online updates, which both weaken our sense of self and our ability to create genuine friendships.

I call this shift from the private to the public self "digital narcissism." Behind the communitarian veil of social media, we have fallen in love with ourselves. But this is a super sad love story. Because the more we self-broadcast, the emptier we become; and the emptier we become, the more we need to self-broadcast.

I have long suspected social media is slowly destroying us. I know that's nothing new to most of us, but I'm takling about US too. Me and You. I enjoy making people laugh, but I mostly enjoy sharing my spiritual journey with others. In fact that's really the only thing I care about. In saying that, I don't get to many "likes" or "comments" or "shares." I don't feel the love so to speak. Either people don't want to hear it, or other people get jealous/offeneded by the things I post. Yes, in Christian circles too! You know, "Who does he think he is?" "Is that the best he can do?" "Nobody wants to hear that." Oh, don't get all self righteous. You've done it to others too. Puposely, shunning other folks' posts? Yep. When people don't like or comment on the things we share, we get offended. That's it in a nutshell.

Crazy huh? How about posting way to much? There's no privacy left in our lives if we do that. Have you ever heard it said, "Ladies like the jerks?" Why? It's because they don't share much information or attention. People are intrigued about the inner workings and personal affairs of those they know nothing about. Strange I know, but true. Have you ever looked up to someone, and then found out their secrets? It's shocking and no matter how hard we try we just can't look at them the same. Staus update overload is similar. The more updates I see, the more desparate the person appears. They tend to lose their original appeal and the reason I wanted to get to know them in the first place.  Make sense? Unless you're really cool and everything you post is superawesome. I haven't found anyone like that yet...

I deleted my facebook account a few months ago. Honestly, I was tired of seeing the same old doom and gloom posts. Not only that, I closed the door on anything that could ever try to come between my wife and I. My wife does trust me, but having other women as friends is still a bit uncomfortable. Other than God, nothing is more important or sacred to me than my marriage. The occasional likes I did get and the periodical family nudge just wasn't enough for me to keep my account open. There are others ways of getting in contact with me. I have been much more productive, and I don't know everyone's gossip. Im free and clear of OPJ. Was it tough to kick? Yep. I was amazed at how much of a pull social media had on me.

This isn't a bash on facebook or social media. It's meant to be thought provoking. Social media has become a nuclear "marketing" explosion. It's actually pretty scary. Our need for digital confidence and approval is being exploited at an alarming rate by companies who could care less about you as an individual. What happened to just sharing something because WE wanted to? Now, we share things based on what other people will think of the post first! How much money can we make if people click here? I promised myself I wouldn't post blogs just to post blogs. I was going to have something worth while to say when I did. Take a look at the article for yourself, I've posted it below.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/30/tech/keen-technology-facebook-privacy/index.html?hpt=hp_c2