Social Media & What It Means to Be Human
He started by saying, “I think you’re at a disadvantage because…”
In that brief second pause as he collected his thoughts, my eyes widened. He noticed, and a grin stretched across his face. He could sense my curiosity, my apprehension. He continued: “I think you’re at a disadvantage because you’re so opinionated, at least on social media.” We had been talking about whether a certain person felt they could turn to me for advice.
He went on to express how he knows how much I love the grey zones of life – how he knows how much I love to dissect things; to unravel the pros and cons, the paradox and the nuance. And yet, when it came to whether or not some person might turn to me for advice, it was questionable: the person I revealed on social media was clear in their views – confident, self-assured, and indeed, opinionated.
I was struck with the truth that Jakob had just shared with me; his perception of both my real person self and my social media self. And then a thought came:
How many people have I presumed to know based on the snapshots they share on social media?
Social media makes us forget what it means to be human, to be in constant flow. To be this and that and the in-between. It has erased our multi-dimensionality. Jakob has also told me that I must confuse a lot of people on social media. On one hand, I advocate for compassion, curiosity, and warmth – and yet on the other, I am clear, firm, and assertive. I do understand the potential for paradox, but isn’t that life? Isn’t that what it means to be human?
As we navigate this less-than-human world of technology, I hope we can retain some semblance of our humanity. Of our generosity towards one another. Can I take what you share and realize that it is not your whole truth? That it is not the full picture of you? In Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, she writes:
Sometimes when I read poems at a reading to strangers, I realize they think those poems are me. They are not me, even if I speak in the “I” person. They were my thoughts and my hand and the space and the emotions at that time of writing. Watch yourself. Every minute we change.
Is it not the same with social media? Are the snapshots we share nothing more than that, snapshots? I hope that we can all, myself included, start to imagine the humanity that lives behind what people share online. Especially if one’s posts are contrary to what you or I believe right now. You and I are changing. So is the person who encapsulated their thoughts as best they could, for now, in a pixelated image that will disappear in 24 hours from now. Thoughts, feelings, and certainties may disappear as swiftly from a person as they do from a screen; and in any case, they certainly morph.
So let us remember that everything changes. Let us remember that life is not static. Let us remember that we, humans, live in shades of grey and stardust of gold. Let us always remember what it means to be human.
Photo by Luca Baggio on Unsplash