I've been thinking a bit lately about this new culture of oversharing we seem to have now. I'm trying to understand the appeal and quite frankly, I'm not really getting anywhere. I can totally understand sharing big, important things, but what you had for lunch or what color your socks are isn't something that I would generally share. But incase you're wondering, my socks...haha kidding.
That saying of being an "open book" has also been floating about my thoughts composing this post. As far as I've understood it, being an open book is considered to be a good thing. Right? Someone like that is easy to get to know, and they'll tell you whatever you want to know. But in this time where we can see so many details of others' lives so easily, I'm not so sure I want to be a completely open book. I think I want to be closed.
Now, let me explain what I mean when I say that. I don't mean closed and kept behind locked chains like in this screen cap from Dr. Strange. I would like to be closed, but easily opened. At least when it comes to social media. I don't want every little detail about my likes and dislikes, and thoughts on certain subjects to be readily available without conversation. If there is something someone would like to know about me, I would much prefer to have a conversation, rather than them hopping online and doing a little digging. Social media can only paint a very one dimensional picture. Having to condense a long, deep discussion into a two or three sentence post is bound to misrepresent exactly what you want to say, and leave you (or at least me) feeling a bit dissatisfied. It's an illusion of being in touch. I may say that I'm super excited for Halloween because it's my favorite holiday, but not
why Halloween is my favorite holiday. The depth is gone. You may know facts about me, but not the layers underneath them, and essentially, what makes me tick. And there are certain things that I wouldn't post on social media, but I would talk about if you were to ask me. Like exactly what miscarrying felt like physically. Or my thoughts on Piaget, Freud, and/or Maslow. Or why my absolute favorite quote from my favorite movie is what it is. And why that particular movie resonated so strongly with me when I first saw it.
Sure, there is some irony posting this on a blog, but I like giving people something to think about. We are all so complex and have so much more to us than social media allows us to share. So we resort to posting about things like sandwiches and doing the dishes and ultimately still feel lacking. The want to share and converse is real, but when actual conversation seems to be fading, we're left with less than our whole selves. So here's what I would like to ask of people: lean less on the person you appear to be online. Don't only post the big things online, talk about them with people when you're out to dinner. Don't worry so much if you haven't posted your daily update on Facebook or Twitter. Worry more if you haven't called or texted your best friend in a few days. Let's bring real conversation back. It feels so much better.
