At 45-years-old, I would consider myself a ‘tweener. Not in the typical age way that we think of a ‘tweener, but in the technology sense. I spent the first half of my 45 years with little technology and no social media, and the current half of my 45 years with tons of technology and more social media than I care to have. Everyone has his or her own viewpoint of social media and I’d also consider myself a ‘tweener in that sense. I’m not anti-social media, but I’m also not pro social media.
I’m kind of stuck in between where I see both positives and negatives, and with a balance that works for me.
I’m also an observer. My son says I “silently judge” but that’s just because he’s nine and he hasn’t come to fully understand the ins and outs of observing. I often find myself watching people, listening to people, and observing patterns in people. Lately, I have found myself feeling more and more observant of the people I follow on social media and I’ve noticed a pattern. I’ve noticed a pattern of conflict. I’ve noticed a pattern of justification. I’ve noticed a pattern of exposure which has led to a pattern of individuals feeling violated in some sense. Maybe it’s a privacy violation. Maybe it’s hurt feelings that makes them feel violated. Maybe it’s just a feeling of vulnerability. Maybe it’s a feeling of not being noticed enough. Patterns lead to conclusions and my conclusion is that maybe…just maybe…we were never supposed to be doing any of what we are doing now.
Maybe we were never supposed to share every detail of our lives with each other.
Maybe we were never supposed to open up our homes on the internet so that strangers can see where we celebrate holidays, where we prepare our meals, and where we sleep with our spouses and children.
Maybe we were never supposed to share our biggest successes and joys with people we’ve never met.
Maybe we were never supposed to publicly record and display our grief in hopes to heal someone else.
Maybe we were never supposed to see bombings and school shootings and assassinations played over and over and sometimes in real time.
Maybe we were never supposed to share the innermost secrets of our families and the vulnerabilities of our children.
Maybe the world doesn’t really need to know every time our feelings are hurt, every time something doesn’t go our way, and every time we are disappointed.
So, maybe we should turn it around.
Maybe if we didn’t share so much with others, we wouldn’t hurt so much when others don’t engage.
Maybe if we didn’t see so much of what others have, we wouldn’t want so much more than we do have.
Maybe if we didn’t set unrealistic expectations for others, we wouldn’t be so let down when they don’t rise to those expectations.
Maybe we can still inspire others with our words, our stories, and our testimonies instead of our staged videos, our recorded emotional breakdowns, and our anger-fueled rants.
