You are not as awesome as you think you are.

Now, this may seem hypocritical coming from someone who calls herself a blatant narcissist..... who sends her words into the blogosphere, believing that there is a possibility that someone, somewhere out there, gives a shit. And maybe that is true. But, in my defense, I post these blogs anonymously... so I suppose I feel there is a difference.

My issue today is with facebook.... and twitter.... and social networking in general. The idea that there are people out there who think that people actually give a shit about every subtle nuance of their life... every action, every random thought, and.... most of all.... the 50 bazillion pictures they take of themselves?!

I don't know if the issue is that people have developed these inflated egos, and they actually believe that people care about them THAT much... or if it is that people are in constant need of reaffirmation that they matter. That they are funny, original, smart, attractive....... the list goes on.

I know a girl who posts constantly on social networking sites. She posts her every thought, she talks about how funny she is.... she posts pictures of herself constantly. Honey, you can only take so many pictures of yourself on your phone and laptop before the shit starts to get stale. She talks about herself constantly.... not even just posting funny things she did.... but following them up with "Yes, I am awesome" or something similar. She got this new haircut (which looks RIDICULOUS by the way.... think a sideways mullet...... chopped off to the ear on the right, and left chin length on the left.) And posted about 15 pictures of her new haircut, from every angle. I laughed out loud! It really looked so bad. Short hair is risky for girls with petite features, and this girl is overweight, double chin and all, with rather masculine features. And physically, the girl was already about a 5 anyway.... could have made it to a 7 if she ever wore makeup, but with this new haircut she is definitely at like a 3 or 4, easily. However, she felt a need to talk about how great she looked, because really, who is going to be the bearer of bad news and say "You need to go get that fixed?" No one! They either say something nice just to reaffirm her self image or they say nothing. The girl's entire internet existence screams two things: "LOOK AT ME!" and "I need you to tell me how great I am!" The saddest part is.... she would be a far more beautiful person if her frequent facebook postings about how great she thinks she is didn't make her look like such a sad person.

I know it sounds awful, but although I use this girl as an example, it's not like she is the only one. They are EVERYWHERE. People posting things online that took them a half an hour to come up with..... that they think make them sound witty and cool. We all know one of them. They have all these clever status updates, yet in person they are incredibly dry and boring. Girls who take 50 pictures of themselves in various poses on their webcam or cell phone, then posting the one picture that shows them at a good angle. We aren't stupid, girls! We all know if you hold the camera above your head and look up at it, that you are trying to make yourself look thinner. You can't hide that double chin in person.

I feel, as a part of Generation Y, that we are privileged in that we have been able to witness the best of both worlds. We grew up playing board games, going outside, riding our bikes, climbing trees, reading books..... yet when technology started to blow up, we were at the prime age to devour it, yet hold onto the beauty that was "just being a kid." I remember, in fifth grade, having ONE friend with a computer. And in order to use it, you had to know DOS. I remember in middle school learning to type on a computer with a green and black screen, with a cursor blinking on the left.... .and having one font, and a printer that took 45 minutes to print out a paper in grayscale. I remember when Paint was not yet in color. I remember learning HTML in high school because, at that point, it was expected that you know how to use it. Perhaps growing up watching technology evolve is the reason why I am so jaded about it now.

I fear for the future. I am afraid that social networking will result in a bunch of socially anxious people who communicate over computers just fine but can't talk face to face. People who are not afraid to screw people over because they never have to look them in the eye. People whose actions are entirely ego-driven, who can't just BE.... who feel the need to tell everyone else how great they are, and who need constant reaffirmation in order to believe it.

The bottom line is, the internet is a wonderful thing. It is. It connects people all over the world. It puts information at your fingertips. But it can be dangerous, too. It is changing our social dynamic. People should still leave their houses. They should still talk to other people face to face. They should have FRIENDS - real friends, not just people whose facebook walls they post on, about how they miss them and should hang out more often. People should be secure in themselves because they like themselves, not because a bunch of people posted online that they like them.

And really - JUST BE. If you have to TELL people how awesome you are, how attractive you are, how smart you are..... you probably aren't. And you probably already know it.

Source: http://tilthemedicinetakes.blogspot.com/2010/08/you-are-not-as-awesome-as-you-think-you.html