Social Media Is Realer Than You Think
This may surprise you.
The common debate against social media is that it’s not real, just a bunch of pretty pictures showing perfect lives.
This is true, but to an extent. The distorted reality social media, and the internet in general, projects can be fake, even harmful. Depression and suicide rates are going in the wrong direction, many pointing the fingers at big tech.
But is it all their fault?
Until just recently, I thought it was. I personally subscribed to the smoke and mirror belief and criticized social media while still using it daily. The way I rationalized and felt better was I stood on the ground that nothing was off limits and I’d post the good, bad, and the ugly, doing my best to close to the gap of my real life to the online persona. I’d show real life.
Then I thought about it more.
When I posted my trip to Mexico, I was actually in Mexico. When I post a workout video, I just worked out.
Isn’t that real life?
What’s fake about that?
I started looking at social media more critically. I found that it’s more of a mirror of our reality then we give it credit. We move in a way that our real life is often a projection of who want others to believe we are.
Everything we do tells a story.
The guy who buys the Mercedes he can’t really afford.
The girl who wears hair extensions to have longer, thicker hair.
The guy who works out incessantly to get bigger arms.
Fake, yes but these all exists in our real world.
It’s how humans operate.
Which makes me believe our online profile showcases more of us than we think and the reason it bothers us because it’s too real. Twenty years ago, you didn’t see the millionaire in Miami on his yacht. He was a myth. Now you are there, seeing the world through his own eyes and it’s so blinding you have to downplay it and wag your finger.
But that guy is actually on his 80 foot boat. Like it or not, that boat is very real.
I feel we present social media as fake to feel better about our own existence. Truth is some people are better looking, happier, and live more fulfilling lives than we do. Social media shows that. Do some fake it? Yes, but I believe subconsciously we can see through the lie.
I’m not sure what to do with this information other then I’m curious what this means for the future.
