Around 2011, I had a conversation with my students about the current happenings at the time. The conversation was going well until I realised that one of them had no clue as to what we were talking about.
“Didn’t you see it, Fatin? It is viral on Facebook?”, I asked her.
“I don’t have Facebook, Miss”, she answered innocently.
I was surprised because, at the time, the majority of her classmates had a Facebook account. Then, I (naively) said, “I read somewhere that if you don’t have an online account, it is as if you don’t exist”. She just smiled and created an account soon after that.
Looking back, I think she’s right. Not having an online presence could be one of the best things in this world. We have all heard it, read it, and seen it. Joining the online world is more detrimental than being offline. The worst part is our inability to be private and elusive.
A short scroll on social media could inform us what our friends ate for dinner, which of them are studying, when they got married etc. These are not necessarily a bad thing but we, humans, are displaying our life to the world easily and clearly. Back then, whenever we needed to catch up with each other, we had to see them physically. I still remember a time when people had to take photos, send them to shops to be processed, pay the shop and bring it with us whenever we wanted to show it to others. Basically, the act of showing off was long and arduous.
Everything takes time, effort and energy. It isn’t like that anymore. Photos can be shared in a few clicks and minutes. This makes us become hasty, hence the abundance of embarrassing photos online.
Current Generations Guide To Using The Social Media
I thought this oversharing culture would continue but I was wrong. When my Gen Z students and classmates exchanged Instagram handles, I was culture shocked, to say the least. Unlike Millennials, most of them generally have 0 photos. Yes, you read that right, zero photo. Even if they do, they only have photos that don’t showcase their real face. Few of them have unclear or blurry photos of themselves.
Is this a good thing? I kinda think that it is. You see, I believe that the more you share, the more you invite people to have opinions about you. And most of the time, these opinions are incorrect or downright mean. Rather than giving others the opportunity to form opinions about who you are, why not just…not give anything at all? Nip it in the bud because the more you give away, the more judgment you get.
Conclusion
I still post my photos online but I am very selective these days because I believe that I don’t owe anyone any explanation about my life. And to my student, Fatin, if you ever read this, I believe that you are right and I plan to be as elusive as you are.
Image—someecards
