Reality Vs. Facebook

As I was walking this morning, it was raining and there were leaves everywhere, and I realized how nice it all was.  At first though, instead of deciding to enjoy the moment, I had been slightly disappointed that I didn’t have a camera to capture it or that I may not experience another morning like this.

This made me think about the fact that people these days feel an overwhelming need to validate every experience they have by somehow reproducing it or sharing it with others.  After talking in class about the effects of the Internet and Facebook, it is clear that the culture of Facebook dramatically heightens this absurd need.

It can be seen with every aspect of Facebook. Did this still really happen if I don’t make it my Facebook status? If I don’t put this picture on Facebook, what do I even do with it? Am I really friends with someone if we’re not Facebook friends? All of these questions sound ridiculous, yet I bet a lot of people can say they have pondered them to some extent, whether seriously or satirically.

Unfortunately, I cannot say I am just a witness to the Facebook craze, and that I too am fully immersed in it.  As all of these ideas about the Internet’s effects were flowing through my head, they were accompanied by sudden, trivial thoughts about none other than…Facebook.  I walked past two people running, had a funny thought and decided: I should totally write on my friend’s wall about this.  Later, out of nowhere, I remembered having a good conversation with someone the previous night, and I thought to myself: Are we friends on Facebook? I should add him when I get home.  I immediately realized how ridiculous these thoughts were given my simultaneous critique of Facebook, but perhaps that just further proves my point about how much it affects our thought processes.

There is no way to really reverse the impact that Facebook has had on us.  One could say the damage has already been done.  Perhaps the best we can do is to reflect every once in a while and realize how absurd the microcosm of Facebook can be.  It is important to prioritize our real lives over our virtual lives, and to feel that our real experiences are more legitimate than our online reproduction of them, not the other way around.  People can benefit from trying to enjoy the moment they are in, instead of thinking about how they can talk about it on Facebook later.