A discussion on “authenticity” in the age of social networking.
Yes, I am doing this on my blog….IRONY!!
So I woke up Sunday morning, padded softly into my son’s room, and smelled the pungent stench of poop. The room was covered in poop, and so was my son. His beloved blankey, was not innocent in the hailstorm of excrement either. My first thought?
“I should seriously post this on facebook”.
I post adorable pictures of my two little angels. I don’t typically rant, or share thoughts or comment on the weather / traffic / state of political affairs / or much else. Nope, I save that for my blog, or a phone conversation with a friend. On facebook, as on my annual Christmas card, my life is full of love and adorable, even “SO cute” moments. It is not covered in poop. No, my REAL life, my authentic life is quite often covered in poop, milk, cereal, scratches and bacon grease. In this age of authenticity, transparency, are we all just becoming less real? If we pour our time, energy, mantras, thoughts all into these image producing, social sharing outlets, how does that affect who we truly are and how our lives really work?
I am all for privacy. I grew up in an arguably very WASP-y environment, my mother was all about image, and what people thought of us. She was an interior decorator, and constantly struggled to keep our home at a “model home” level of perfection. She was pleased when we emulated that level of order and type, and furious when we were too authentic. I struggle with this all the time. Deep down, I still strive to be perfect, and authentic. To create order, and peace, harmony, love, style, originality, humor, and a great canapé. But where is the line? I don’t think it’s possible to achieve all of the listed goals at once, if at all (note: my canapés are constantly soggy – boo freakin’ hoo). And is all of it really important anyhow? I don’t know, but I do think, every once in a while you have to share the moments that are real, so that when they happen to someone else, that person a: doesn’t think they’re crazy and b: can call you to find out the best method for chipping excrement out of a bed frame.
Thoughtful and funny stuff, Em. I am beginning to think FB is not the place anyone posts anything real about their lives. I have had several discussions lately about how FB ends up making folks feel worse about themselves after they have spent some time on it for the very reason you are calling out. It is a place where people share the perfect version of themselves with the world- not the real stuff. Or at the very least- it is only half of the story. I'm beginning to believe the pursuit of keeping the online version of ourselves authentic is pretty futile. It's hard enough to keep up with the actual real live versions of ourselves. Like you said, at best the social networking platforms should be a way for us to share and relate. At worst, they shape the way we behave and inform our feelings about ourselves. The "should I post this on FB" question is totally valid. Lately my answer has usually been no- but that's because I hate that I've started to see events in my life through the FB lens (i.e. This is fun being with all you people, I should take a picture so everyone can see what fun it is to be with you people)- rather than appreciate the actual people.
ReplyDeleteI've tried to only post stuff that I think would bring others joy and make them feel less alone- and your poop story qualifies.
Rebecca shared a great article with me that I think you might like:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/teresa-strasser/social-networking-and-isolation_b_860134.html
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