Hello, wasteof.money.
I remember the days I would frequent this website. Procrastinating my work to talk with numerous strangers, ingraining myself in a random community. It was a place that felt homely for a short while. And then it felt shallow.
That’s the interesting part of an online relationship. Whether with an individual or with a community, it is shallow. The magic of human interaction is humanity, and a screen cannot create humanity.
I used this place, and my numerous accounts, to express myself during a time when I, and many others, felt suppressed. A time where the exigence of the world situation far outweighed any conceivable insight, idea, or feeling you may have. It was the ability to share with a community that noticed you, even slightly, that made the site feel homely.
But anything regular will eventually fall into normalcy. That’s where it became shallow.
That’s where the veil was lifted. It was, truly, a coping mechanism. Most posts are a way to share your thoughts with people who just might care, even if you don’t know them. To share what you would normally suppress. To feel noticed, and realized. As much as anyone wouldn’t want to admit it, it’s what you want. Introverted, extroverted, even psychopathic, being realized is as much a human need as food and water.
A social network lets you place a bag over your head, form your words into ideas, and teach people your mind through language. It lets you hide, yet still be seen. It lets you choose what you show.
And thus, it fails to replicate humanity.
A face-to-face conversation displays you in totality. Something which may make some feel uncomfortable. Anxious. Despite the bad feelings which may be associated with these interactions, it creates one important thing: vulnerability. On the internet, it is the lack of vulnerability that creates toxicity. The lack of vulnerability that creates anonymity that creates hatred.
But again, nobody wants to feel vulnerable. Nobody wants everything to be seen. Regardless, you need it. As much of a need that being realized is, so is the vulnerability that comes with it. The world of social networks completely destroys this.
Social media got people through hard times.
Social media helped people find friends.
Social media changes people.
Social media has done all those things for me. It has done all those things to others. And it will continue to do those things for the rest of time. Social media will teach people. Change people. Kill people. Social media has an incredible amount of power. I believe that a lack of vulnerability is the reason for this power. The reason we give it power. We cannot find the cracks in the people on social media to make it any less powerful than it is.
When you really think about it, social media ignores the two most important things: the exigence of reality, and the truthfulness of humanity.
Hello, wasteof.money. And goodbye once again.