April 24, 2014 - Written by: Guest Blogger

The Online World is a Toxic Stage (and we cannot get enough of it!)

It’s that little flicker of happiness that you get in your (now Easter-enlarged) belly when a proclaimed selfie gets a Like on Facebook, a few more Likes later and you’re a little bit pleased with yourself, without being entirely sure why.

Fuck yes I wore that lipstick well, thanks for agreeing! Oh this NEW dress proudly presents my lovely lady lumps as two glorious mountains of skin protruding from their secretly enhanced bra… how lovely of you to notice! Yes I put my sunglasses on; I think that warrants ten likes, eye safety is extremely important, I’m glad you have shown your support.

WHY DO WE DO THIS? When did taking a photo of yourself doing something you’re enjoying become more important than actually enjoying the event? It’s flipping insane, in fact it’s toxic and yet we cannot get enough of it.

(Image via)

So I’m not a mathematician or a scientist but I do know that the amount of time we spend taking photos in hindsight of them appearing on Facebook has reached stupid predicaments.

No data is needed when, in ourselves, we can look back on our photos and see at least ten that have been uploaded for no reason other than a self-esteem boost, a potential catalyst for admiration or encouragement to pursue a certain goal.

Why do we invest so much in ‘amusing’ our ‘friends’ and keeping them updated on our lives on social media?

What is gained by putting a picture up of a glass of wine with the caption, ‘Yess it’s the weekend’ when you could be drinking the wine and getting on with your weekend?

What is gained by allowing others to Like this photo probably from their own wine-induced event, and in turn, allowing it to gain popularity on the newsfeed, and then, before you know it, around fifty people have began their weekend Liking a picture of someone else’s weekend which reflects their weekend, and so they Like it?

It is a toxic mess and it’s only getting worse.

Before I go on, I just want to say that I am not criticizing anyone’s use of social media but I want to question it and question the effect it’s having on us.

In order to do this I’ve developed a list of (what I believe) incorporates every reason for putting a photo of us online. (This list was researched thoroughly from scanning my newsfeed for roughly thirty seconds in case anyone is wondering):

6 Legit Reasons for Putting a Photo of Yourself Online:

1) Having a face (Glad rags are on, glad rags aren’t on).

2) Life Achievement (Graduation, new job)

3) Life on tour (Holidays, somewhere with snow, somewhere with sun, somewhere popular with tourists/hikers/backpackers/students or a zoo)

4) Animals

5) Charity

6) Life or death

These are six different reasons and yet they still all come down to the same thing, personal admiration.

Every one of these events requires someone to admire the person who has put up the photo and I personally think it’s incredibly toxic to ourselves that we lead lives whereby the norm is to create an online presence that we all know (deep down although it hurts) doesn’t really reflect even half the things that we are, dream of, believe in and think. It is an online presence that reflects our social media admiration and the toxins we now have in ourselves that require us to continue to be a certain person that the online world wants us to be.

The reason I initially started thinking about this was due to the fact I was told that being a teacher or part of a school requires you to be incredibly careful of your online persona and what is put online, however, this can be said can be true for any career at varying levels. It is then that I considered that anyone who is really IN my life, as in those who I’m in contact with beyond their online self know exactly what I’m doing, what I’ve been up to and they have my details if they need me.

When I was in school, you had your friends, you had their numbers, you might even have had their MSN if you put up with dial-up Internet, and there was no such thing as ‘online friends’.

There are many reasons for and against Facebook and social media, with many people probably screaming at their screen about keeping in contact and reminiscing.

Yes, keeping ‘in touch’ with the relatives in Oz is a lovely thing but your family in-jokes, the food you ate on your visit and the standard family photo are also being seen by your hoard of online friends.

Why do we allow ourselves to be continuously watched by our online communities, and more so why do we absolutely encourage it?

Love,

Daisy

*Who is slowly eradicating Facebook but it fights back!

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out ‘Facebook Frustration‘?