After reading so much about Facebook and how it allows for people to portray themselves in a way that may not match with who they are in real life, I could not help but think that that is in no way representative of me. But now.... I have to say that I am reconsidering that thought. I am not saying that my Facebook is about a different person, that I set out to lie, or anything like that- but I must admit that there are certain aspects of my account that can seem "fake". From the simple fact that until last year I never uploaded a picture of myself and relied solely on photos I was tagged in to the number of "friends" I have to the way in which I go through whatever I am tagged in to make sure it only shows the good side of me- I am unfortunately someone who participates, albeit innocently, in creating a "Fakebook".There is no way that the pictures I have on my account are an accurate representation of myself- there are hardly any pictures from before high school and there are countless and countless pictures of the prom version of me. The version of me that has hair done, makeup done, wears a pretty dress, smiling. Not the me that wears her hair in a messy bun, wears Ball State t-shirts like they are going out of style, and gets ready in under an hour. My account only gives snip-its of my past, it does a horrible job of showing all of who I am. Beyond just relying on the photos that other people have posted, I also have been the person who will untag and hide from my timeline any photo that I do not want other people to see when they look at my profile (let’s be honest here- we all creep on each other). Instead of being ok with showing all parts of me and all the pictures, I edit what people can see. Another lovely way I have found that my account is more fake than real is my number of friends. I used to find it peculiar that one of my friends (both in real life and online) has only 72 friends, but now I can see how that is so much better than my 802. Her account is full of people that she actually knows and talks to and cares about and feels as though matter to her life. Mine on the other hand is full of people I graduated with but hope to never see again, people that I went to summer camp with when I was younger, people that I know nothing about anymore. But yet I claim them as “friends”. Why is that? Does it make me feel better? It seems not- it just makes me sad because my friend number stands as a constant reminder of all the people I once knew or once talked to that no longer matter in my life. I am working my way down to a more manageable and more accurate friends list full of people I truly care about And maybe I will never hit 72, but I will pare it down to a more realistic amount. That’s a promise.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Fakebook vs. Facebook
After reading so much about Facebook and how it allows for people to portray themselves in a way that may not match with who they are in real life, I could not help but think that that is in no way representative of me. But now.... I have to say that I am reconsidering that thought. I am not saying that my Facebook is about a different person, that I set out to lie, or anything like that- but I must admit that there are certain aspects of my account that can seem "fake". From the simple fact that until last year I never uploaded a picture of myself and relied solely on photos I was tagged in to the number of "friends" I have to the way in which I go through whatever I am tagged in to make sure it only shows the good side of me- I am unfortunately someone who participates, albeit innocently, in creating a "Fakebook".There is no way that the pictures I have on my account are an accurate representation of myself- there are hardly any pictures from before high school and there are countless and countless pictures of the prom version of me. The version of me that has hair done, makeup done, wears a pretty dress, smiling. Not the me that wears her hair in a messy bun, wears Ball State t-shirts like they are going out of style, and gets ready in under an hour. My account only gives snip-its of my past, it does a horrible job of showing all of who I am. Beyond just relying on the photos that other people have posted, I also have been the person who will untag and hide from my timeline any photo that I do not want other people to see when they look at my profile (let’s be honest here- we all creep on each other). Instead of being ok with showing all parts of me and all the pictures, I edit what people can see. Another lovely way I have found that my account is more fake than real is my number of friends. I used to find it peculiar that one of my friends (both in real life and online) has only 72 friends, but now I can see how that is so much better than my 802. Her account is full of people that she actually knows and talks to and cares about and feels as though matter to her life. Mine on the other hand is full of people I graduated with but hope to never see again, people that I went to summer camp with when I was younger, people that I know nothing about anymore. But yet I claim them as “friends”. Why is that? Does it make me feel better? It seems not- it just makes me sad because my friend number stands as a constant reminder of all the people I once knew or once talked to that no longer matter in my life. I am working my way down to a more manageable and more accurate friends list full of people I truly care about And maybe I will never hit 72, but I will pare it down to a more realistic amount. That’s a promise.
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