With the growing trends of many social media platforms, it feels weird not to participate in this uproar of sharing our lives with others. So my question is... Is it weird that I want to be a private person, to be low profile even when I'm born in this digital age where everything is so happening and updated everyday?
I was on the verge of quitting social media for good last year when I faced some crisis in my finances. I was unable to look pass the posts without feeling envious of peers, influencers and others who appeared to have it all as compared to me. The inferiority complex in me caused me to suffer greatly as I compared myself to others on the Internet. It never occurred to me that I actually do not need to participate in this whole saga of social media updates. I can actually choose to be low profile and not engage in these meticulous updates of my life on social media.
The habitual updates of my life on social media has made it hard for me to stop wanting to share about the daily happenings in my life. It felt like I wasn't fully utilizing a good piece of image or some video footages if I did not share it with others on my social media. But is it really true that these precious memories would lose its value if it's not shared mindlessly with others in our social media? How does the two comes hand in hand? Why do we need to show our best photos or videos to others to be validated? Why do our memories have to be celebrated or seen by others? How will our updates affect their lives?
As I try to put myself in the shoes of an outsider just scrolling through social media feeds, I recognize that it's actually not of a big deal if we stop updating our social media feeds with our latest changes in our lives. Because in all honesty, everyone is way more concerned about themselves and their lives. They are just habitually scrolling through the feeds with the fear of missing out. Are they genuinely there to see your updates? Well maybe a handful of those in your social circle is truly interested to find out about your life from afar. How many others really want to find out through your social media updates?
We have arrived in this digital age where we think too highly of ourselves in others' minds. We thought that we are so important and the earth will stop spinning if we were to disappear from the social media feeds. Having the experience of total disconnect from social media for a couple of months, I am able to say that it's totally untrue. Our existence on this earth is so insignificant as compared to so many other things in this world. We are so small when compared to other things. So my conclusion is that I refuse to live in the delusional world where it feels like my life is the center of others and my updates are big enough to shake someone's life. This realization of our insignificance will greatly impact on the amount and depth of information we were to share openly on our social media platforms. And until then, we will just keep revolving the circle of sharing every part of our lives out there for others to see.
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