A conversation about Facebook that has been building for nearly 10 years has reached an all-time-high-pitched buzz. With smart phones making it easier than ever to be connected 24/7 to social media, and various channels cross-cutting each other, much of the modern world is fully entrenched in a narcissistic-masquerading-as-introspective stupor.
Those people that post very personal mopey statuses and are always laid back in real life.
Those people that share links to dozens of articles everyday under the pretense of informing when in actuality it is a less direct cry for attention.
The people who share dozens of link after link, declaration after declaration on a friend's wall, a public validation of their friendship... Does one imagine himself/herself in a bubble when (s)he shares these posts, or has all the world truly become a stage? Does one automatically fall into a mindset of presentation when they have a "public" conversation?
The people that post Instagram pics of every anticlimactic social event and paraphernalia purchase. It's one thing to post it on Instagram, it's another to deliberately share it on Facebook as well.
The people that post selfie after selfie of contrived stoicism.
Those 45 year old women that check in every time they go to the local restaurant next to Shoprite.
And worst of all, the people that rant about how loser-ish and transparent others' Facebook activity is.
Should we let the id truly run free? Are we more truthful than ever, or more self-involved and dependent yet isolated than ever
We are addicted to the approval of others, though only concerned about their well- being insomuch as how they serve us
The past year has seen a host of feature articles defining The Millienials. Like generation X, the time has finally come that enough of us have entered adulthood enough so that society may summarize our generation into a particular set of character traits. We are narcissistic, we think we are special, we're all waiting for people to finally notice our true genius.
There has been backlash, scorning our out of touch and bitter predecessors, as certain authors offer counterfactual evidence in an attempt to end the conversation with a determining note of finality. Millienials are more caring than ever, our multitasking skills is what will save us all.
But as I live my own life and find myself scrolling through various feeds with zombie-like enthusiasm, an inner turmoil with the mild fervor of a closeted transcendentalist poet, it makes me wonder certain that those writers who pitch and invest in these critiques the most are probably millenials themselves. A classic self-loathing projected on others. We are lost in Me, and we know it.
The recent Birthday of Joan Didion had reinforced every millennial blogger's belief that every introspective thought on the path of self-discovery is intellectual and beneficial for all. Struggle is being meta-idealized, as we fabricate our memories as we live them. 2013 'twas also the year of Introverts, and thus media comforted us that the idea that thinking too much and worrying too much and alone time with oneself is a thing to humble-brag about, like being a nerd during the era of Seth Cohen. We've been constantly told to be ourselves, to find ourselves, and to find our way. Social media has offered the perfect platform to brand our journey. But not all thoughts are gold, not all contribute to the self-realization of civilization. But should we all continue to think that one's thoughts are important, we shall continue aimlessly wandering in our own respective circles of spotlight, never looking up to realize that there are other circles too.
