The assignment we did in class on Friday really got me thinking about how we portray ourselves in the different forms of life. I had trouble defining my online identity, but I ultimately concluded that the fact that I am the only person I know without a Facebook page says a lot about me. I really value real-life relationships so I guess I've always resisted any electronic fabrication of this concept. That is not at all to say that I am "above" social networking in any way, in fact, I often find myself wishing I wasn't the exception and I could be in the loop on Monday morning when the details of the weekend emerge across everyone's page. But it is very representative of my approach to friendships that the only ones I have are "IRL."
This then prompted me to think of all the ways in which we create identities for ourselves, even beyond the internet. In high school we were probably all categorized based on the activities we did, people we hung out with, etc. But sometimes these categories are a complete misrepresentation of who we actually are. For example, my brother's best friend in high school was the starting quarter back on our conference-champion football team, record breaking swim team member, and track phenomenon. Despite this athletic "cool-guy" image, he got straight As, perfect SAT scores, and just graduated from MIT last spring. If you left your judgments to the way he is portrayed within the walls of our high school, you would be sadly mistaken when you tried to define him.
The same goes for celebrities. I am inclined to believe that John Mayer is the most wonderful human being on earth because of the adorable words he sings in songs like Daughters, Stop This Train, The Heart of Life, etc. I have defined him in my own head as an amazing guy that I could totally hang out with and talk about life over lunch, but I am almost definitely wrong. No matter how adorable he may seem, he's probably an arrogant jerk who wouldn't give me the time of day if he ever met me. Which is a shame.
But my point is, it's hard to be consistent across the board. Not everything we do will always be true to our core character. People always do things that shock people, and it's very difficult to categorize someone in one solid way. The trick is to blend all these ways of expression into one ultimate image of self.
I think its interesting that you occasionally wishy you weren't the exception and did have a facebook, because there are plenty of times I wish I was the exception. However, at this point, I feel like facebook is my only connection to certain friends and topics of interests, and that if I deactivate it now, it'd feel... weird.
ReplyDeleteI would also feel wierd erasing my online life as well. It is hard to keep in touch with people as it is and if i am off facebook, i probably would be in touch with more then half the people i talk to. Even if you just define "keeping in touch" as mee creeping on their facebook pages just to know whats going on in their lives. And as arrogant as it sounds i like that people can see what i am doing. I feel like something solid is coming from the things i do and the fun i partake in. I want to share my life not just keep it to myself.
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