Facebook: To Use or Not Use?

In this article I'am going to share with you why facebook is so popular and why you shouldn't look at your facebook newsfeed or your instagram feed. In our modern world and culture there is such a huge emphasis placed on image. Our consciousness does not live by how we feel but rather how we think we appear to others, or how we look. This is completely backwards. Our feelings in the modern world are disregarded and instead we focus on what people think of us, what we think of ourselves, and the image that we try to cultivate on the outside. Nature, does not think in terms of images. In fact, if you meet people who are very grounded in their being, or self actualized individuals they're not thinking about what other people think of them or their image. You don't see any of the animals get up in the morning and brush their hair so they look better. There may be some other reasons why they comb their hair but beautifying ourselves and creating an image of ourselves to show the outside world isn't something that nature does. Nature simply just is, unbridled and it expresses itself the way it is without asking for permission or taking into account the perceptions of others. So where does facebook and instagram come in on this?

We have placed such a huge emphasis on our looks, which has its basis in how other people think and perceive of us,that we don't even realize that we aren't enjoying what we are doing. You aren't posting a picture of yourself in your new clothes for yourself your posting it for others so they can complement a fictious you that isn't real. The fictitious you that isn't real is the self created image that you think you are putting off. The concept of Brands, relies on this mentality and in fact big businesses created this mentality because without this mentality they couldn't survive.

You see it on facebook all the time. People will take a picture of themselves with new clothes and they think that other people think that they're rich or having a good time or living the dream life. In this type of situation, our feelings about ourselves depends upon how we think others perceive us. This isn't freedom but rather it is enslavement. When life is lived like this you are enslaved to someone elses opinion of yourself. You are placing your well being and concept of self based upon another's concept of you, or what you think they think about you. But where is the real you in all of this? The reason why many older people don't have Facebook, and if they do they don't post on them that much, is because they don't care what people think about them. They lived enough life and gotten to the point where they've realized that their well being, happiness, or self fulfillment doesn't have to depend upon another person's view of themselves. I'am guilty of this myself in the past but you see alot of people who post pictures of themselves at a club or at a party. They want everyone on facebook to see how much of a fun time they're having with their friends on a night out. Yet, if you were to ask those people how they were doing or if they had a fun time that night most would probably recount how someone got in a fight, or someone threw up early and needed to be taken care of, or some friend hooked up with some other friend and then someone else got jealous. People's actual direct experience of the night, overall, was pretty miserable however one or two photos where everyone is together smiling with drinks in hand and everyone on the internet thinks that they had a great time. But the other people don't see all the stuff behind the curtains. They just see what the creator wants them to see, which is a self built image or illusion.

Furthermore, people who are viewing the feed start to question their own reality and experience. "Man, maybe I would like my life more if I was doing this or that. Maybe I should start going out more or doing those activities, those people look so happy. Am I happy?" This is why you shouldn't view your facebook feed. Because it has very little to do with actual reality. Most people are presenting the snippets of their lives that they want you to see so you form a specific belief or opinion about their life which in turns fuels their own false image of themselves and their life. When was the last time you saw a picture or video about someone who was depressed, or sad about a breakup, or who just lost their job. Probably never, because why would anyone want to share those moments with the public? We share the moments that we think will get the most views or make us look the happiest or the best. And why do we share them? Because in sharing those moments we build up a self image of ourselves that says we are living a happy life. And whenever you do that you are doing it because on the inside you actually aren't happy. It's like the self is creating an image on the outside to believe in because the feeling on the inside says that you aren't happy. This is what it means to live a lie or in an illusion.

Facebook, instagram, and other forms of social media are so popular today because it easily allows us to build an image of ourselves that others will believe to be us. But in fact it really isn't us at all. It is an illusion. Who are you on the inside? How do you really feel about your life, your job, your friends and the nights you have out? The more you look at other people's social media pages the more time you take away from yourself. Instead of consuming other people's realities, which are most likely fictitious, take the time to create your own reality.

I'am not against social media, obviously, I'am against building up false images of yourself that delude the public and yourself. Instead of consume other people's false images of the themselves, which make you question the authenticity of your own life, create something that is a natural expression of you, not a built up fictitious image, an expression.

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