In my opinion, it’s one gigantic shit-show of self-important narcissism. Some people have Instagram accounts with over 1,000 photos posted. The 1,000 photos are not what’s impressively sad; it’s that those photos are of themselves in various stages of flex, undress, partying, whatever. Narcissism is being damn kind; this is sickness. Clearly achievement’s barometer nowadays is measured by how many likes and comments your margarita selfie receives. Me, me, me, as if anyone really cares.
MJ DeMarco, Unscripted
Book review forthcoming, but this quote stunned me for a number of reasons.
I’ve wrestled quite a bit with the direction of social media, its effect and my distance to it. Every few months you will see another post on this site about it as I come to some new conclusion.
Reading this quote solidifies the missing link of what bothers me most:
Social media doesn’t want you to grow up.
Before the bells of “OK Boomer” chime on, consider the natural progression of a person’s concerns of the thoughts of others. As a young person, you care deeply what others think about you (despite the posturing, which suggests otherwise).
You want to impress others, make an impression on them, discover your identity and share that particular identity with the world.
Then, as you age, you really stop caring what others think… or realize nobody (outside of your loved ones) is really thinking of you anyway. You feel bold enough to act on your own volition and progressively realize the last ten years of your life were the best ones.
In its current state, sites like Instagram stunt that growth.
Rather than connecting with others and sharing your gifts with the world, you must progressively filter and edit your life out of fear of what others think. And heaven forbid you mature or form different opinions as time goes on because that will not be accepted.
Since the Internet doesn’t forget, people find those early posts of yours and bring them to the forefront to shame you.
So you either leave the platform temporarily or permanently.
And since the addiction level of these platforms are so high and the thrill of getting another like/heart/thumbs up/emoji/gif response resonates within our boundary of personal accomplishments in life, we keep up the mindset of what others think about us.
Can the platform be used for a better purpose?
Does it have the potential to mature?
Can it elevate people beyond repetitive platitudes repackaged through different filters?
Yes, of course!
Will it?
Even the perpetual optimist in me doesn’t think so.