Wednesday, September 29, 2010

What a sham

If you think about, it really is one big sham. We're all big shams. I bet most of us don't do one single spontaneous, honest move on Facebook. Few people would put as their status: "Just got up and looked in the mirror and I look like shit" or "Just screamed at my 2-year old for being too noisy". Even the negative events are sugar coated. The exception are those lost souls who are looking for attention and sympathy, and whose statuses will almost always be reeking with self-pity or self-deprecating, so that friends will just have to pep them with reassuring platitudes. Either that or they can be so mysteriously vague and desperate at the same time, so as to invite as many people as possible to comment.

However, most people will make sure to present a normal picture of themselves. Rosy even. How much is actually real? I suppose a lot of us like to present a picture of ourselves that aren't really true. Even more bizarre are that people actually take pictures solely intended for Facebook. "Pose with me, I'll make this my new Facebook picture!" Or putting on makeup and taking pictures of themselves when they're alone.

Is it all about projecting a certain image? How sincere is it really, when you have hundreds of people on your friends list. How honest are you really in your statuses and your wall posts? I suppose everyone is different. If you think about it, it really is bizarre. Sharing your daily actions on an internet site every single day, as so many people like to do. After a while all that becomes such a huge bore. I've stopped caring when people bake bread, when their kids have a cold or what they ate for lunch, or where they're traveling to on their vacation. If I'm good friends with them, odds are I will know about it anyway and don't need FB to tell me about it. And if I'm not, what does it matter? In the beginning the whole thing was kind of neat but now I barely even reflect on people's statuses or wall posts anymore. What purpose does it really serve? If most of what we reveal about ourselves on there is either fabricated, distorted or irrelevant anyway, what's the point?

Well, these are my thoughts. I'm questioning the purpose behind sites such as Facebook and Twitter, yet I know I probably won't deactivate my FB account just yet, so I guess that makes me a hypocrite. Anyway, if one starts to think too much, nothing makes sense. Everything is fluff and pretense.

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