facebook flossing & profile pimping

the unreality of the social media game

we all know them, those people with perfectly crafted status messages accompanied by perfect portraits, full of selfies, family, & friends. their lives are so nauseatingly ordered. until you peel back the virtual skin overlaying the cracked, some times rotten, not-near-so-perfect facade of real life.

the mythical “dislike” button

real life, as we all know is ebb and flow, highs and lows. not all victorious or success-laden, even though i firmly believe, that failure is a part of overall success.

i simply do not understand the need to keep up with the virtual joneses or appear to be more interesting for the sake of a few likes or online validation, and some cases to have other people present at the pity party of the millennium. the fact that “social envy” is a real by-product of this digital age is telling.

does someone else’s contrived or real achievements or day-to-day doings and happenings translate into a real competition? if you are bothered by such electronic musings, then it begs the question: would you be happier, simply by going out and living life as the interesting person, i’m sure you are; instead of staring at any number of pixel-laden devices rummaging through the life of others while comparing it to your own seemingly mundane existence?

technology has made it easy to over-share on any number of platforms, consistently without a filter. there are details i’d rather not know, i like my celebrities, and at times family and friends, to be mysterious, untouchable people out there somewhere in the far off lands of hollywood, nyc, and or some other magical place with others like them; whom i can only read about or get to know through the body of their work in a book or on the screen. i do not want to know their every waking thought, shopping habits, relationship statuses, out of shape/downtime bodies, faces without makeup, or the fact that they are normal. i like my fantasies in tact. thank you.
the mystique that once was “celebrity” is gone, or at the very least transformed, thanks to online life gazing. while the average jack is attempting to be a superhero, celebrities use social media as a means to humanize themselves. do they sit around and compare notes about clever statuses or feel the pang of incredible hulk like anger when your “friend” makes an announcement via 140 characters or less, when doing so in person or on the phone is appropriate? do they care?

personally, i have enough “stuff” going on with 2 children under the age of 4, a husband, a budding business, and a full time job to be anything other than happy for all those sappy statuses or supportive of all the thousands of other messages floating out there on binary clouds, racking up my own tally of likes, shares, eye rolls, and OMGs.

alas, my point, LIVE as if the internet does not exist. impossible? not really. it does not have to be all consuming. treat it like unreality tv, it is entertaining, a bit of a distraction, and at times a wonderful tool. but you are not your profile or your status; nor does social media represent the sum total of who you are or your life.