First off, I am going to start this blog by saying: if I offend you in any way, good. That’s the point
of this blog entry. It’s to make you mad and hope you do some reflection, because its come to my
attention that we live in a highly saturated narcissistic society, and most of us don't come anywhere
close to fully realizing how bad it is. Sure, most people acknowledge celebrities come across as
narcissistic, but if you are absorbed in social media, you are a narcissist to a certain degree (and
some much more than others). Twitter and Facebook have made regular, everyday people turn into
self-centered freaks who post things from their lives or their thoughts online to draw attention to
themselves. Am I being narcissistic by posting on this blog? YES, and I know it. But for once with this
blog, I am trying to make a valid point. (And for those who know me personally, yes I would make
this rant in a very animated manner.)
“Social media” as its called, has given people free reign, and allowed them to yell out, “Look at me and
what I am doing.” Whether its worth seeing or not is up to the viewer. My point is that doesn't matter.
Why? Because people are going to do it anyway because it makes them feel good. It makes them feel
like they have an audience of some kind. The result is they do whatever they can to feel attached to us,
posting as many things as they can online. Photos. Status updates Silly videos. I have done all of it for
far too long and I feel it’s grown tiresome.
I can't log on to Facebook or Twitter without seeing someone posting something that makes me think,
“Why in the heck would anyone in their right mind post that,” and then I remember, “oh yes, it’s to add
to their ever expanding ego that everyone seems in competition to add to...whether they want to admit
or not.” Take for example a tweet I saw tonight that read, “I HAVE BEEN A SINGLE GIRL FOR FAR
TOO LONG. DOES GETTING MARRIED MEAN I HAVE TO STOP LEAVING CLOTHES ALL OVER THE HOUSE? THIS IS SERIOUS. :)” Now a few details need to be known about this before jumping to your own conclusions: this person has been out of a dating relationship for barely 3 months, and this person has a child. Now knowing that info, this tweet just seems idiotic when one thinks of why it was
posted. I know people have said that Twitter is just pointless status updates, and I have defended it by
saying it’s a bit more than that in some ways, but at the end of the day, it’s real purpose is to build up
the poster’s ego by making them feel important. I don't care if people deny it. On some level, that is
why people participate in social media: because they want attention, and social media feels like an easy
to get some sort of attention.
And to the people who say, “I'm on Twitter to network.” SHUT UP. No you're not,. You can network
without Twitter and maybe get rid of your big ego. People choose not to because the people who
feel the constant need to “network” on Twitter also need attention (why else would they “network”
where there’s the possibility that billions of people could access their thoughts?) If Twitter were to
be wiped off the face of the earth, those people would need some serious mental help. Altogether as
a society it doesn't matter who reads this blog post because people will still go on overusing social
media outlets because that is just the way things are. At the end of the day we are an egotistical, self-
centered, narcissistic group of people who interact with each other with words that, if looked at out of
the context of social media publication, makes little to no sense,. It is simply people saying over and
over again, “Look at me. Please, please look at me. Notice me. I’m important, look at me.”
And yes, I know I am a part of the problem, but to operate in society today you have to participate
or it’s as if you are living in the dark ages. Its quite intriguing. If I can make it to the start of Lent
without losing any more of my mind due to the egotistical-ness of social media, I am giving it up for
the entirety of Lent, and I’ll try to focus on more important things.
I still don't know how to end these things properly, but please think about what I've written, and
consider life just for one week without social media. I imagine it’s a freeing experience. Hopefully I'll
find out for sure, soon.
