All of our lives we've been told by our parents to to share--sharing is caring, whatever, whatever, bullshit bullshit bullshit. Before I go on any further, let it be known that this has nothing to do with the Occupy protests, and that I am not a socialist.
But I just read this article about how the author of which deletes his Facebook, and afterwards he realizes that having a Facebook never made his life more fulfilling; in fact, since he deleted it, his life has been more fulfilling. I'm seriously considering taking heed, going the extra mile, and finally deleting my own because of it. I think about doing it once a month if not more. I deactivate it for months at a time. I've been on this track for awhile. But I haven't gotten there. Yet. But I'm setting the date. Dec. 31st, 2011. My personal New Year's resolution--one that is permanently achievable.
But at the same time, I'm reading this article and I think it's funny. It's funny that he still had the notion to share what he did, to publicize that he deactivated his Facebook through a different social medium. I've written about this before, but I never made it to a conclusion. Our generation has an obsession with sharing. But is it so much sharing or are we looking for some sense of validation in the form of recognition. Are we hunting for people who agree, to approve of our statuses, relationships, jobs, education, our friends, our appearances? If it's not Facebook, it's Twitter, it's Tumblr, it's something else. Look at what I'm dong right now. What is the difference between what I choose to publish on my blog and what I choose to write in my journal?
What is the difference between the thoughts that I want to keep private and those I want to broadcast? Nine times out of ten it's for my own sense of ego--the cynical motive behind most everything--arguably everything--that we do. The thoughts I keep private are kept private for my own benefit--to avoid a bad representation of myself--to save face. And the thoughts I choose to share, I convinced myself might be of some social value, entertainment, or just thoughts that I can't fathom on my own, that need collaborative feedback.
As I'm thinking about it, I actually don't think this obsession with sharing is limited to our generation, we've just been the best at it so far. Before the Internet, there was broadcast television, before the news, there were newspapers, before newspapers, there was gossip. People want to be in the know. And people who are in the know want everyone else to know they're in the know...
I can never finish my thoughts on this. Gotta run.
