I'D RATHER SMOKE CRACK THAN BE ON FACEBOOK

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Submitted Date 09/03/2019
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I'm not entirely sure that I agree with the title, but I hope I got your attention.

"We live in a digital world" Rebecca said as she sipped her white wine. Previously she was saying that she did not like to have her phone after work as she was on her phone all day. Rebecca described how she didn't think she was a millennial because of this.

The definition of a millenial is based on the year you were born, so I cannot agree with her on this point. But I can agree with not wanting to affiliate with the negative consequences of technology.

According to Wikipedia: Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y are the generational demographic proceeding Generation Z. There are no precise dates for when this cohort starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980's as starting birth years and the mid 1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years. Although millennial characteristics vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions, the generation has been marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technology.

Take a moment wherever you are reading this. Look to see how many people are on their phones. I am always interested as well to sneak peaks at what people are looking at. Often, it makes me feel depressed. It gives me a window into what motivates people. What people are looking for. Often they are looking at other people's pictures. Their fancy vacations or fancy salads.

I find it sad that some people use social media as the lens of their world.

I find it sad that people compare themselves to other people. And the reason I am conscious of this is because I have done this myself. With all that being said, I know social media can be used in a positive way.

I started a project where I had friends record their Instagram feeds. I was curious how they see the world and this is a window into their perspective. I wanted to see it written out though, I wanted to see the digital world transcribed. The rules were, read your Instagram feed until you see a picture of a salad. I transcribed the audio recordings I received and you can read them below:

Elizabeth's Instagram

"Looks like an acquaintance of mine is having drinks and cheersing someone. I think she moved, so maybe her friends came to visit or something. I don't know. Oh, Kumail Nanjiani, he and his wife and Emily Gordon wrote a movie, oh god what was it called, it had Ray Romano in it. It was really good and I cannot remember it! I don't know, He just posted a picture of his face and his comment is "collecting beard haze and maze."

I don't know, not his best post. Let's see, a friend of mine in Syndey opened a yoga studio and it's beautiful it's called Paradise Yoga with Claire. She's really cool, I would love to go to the studio someday. Good for her that's awesome. My friend in LA, just making the most of her weekend, she hates her job more than anybody I know. So she makes most of her weekends with her kid. He's pretty cute his name is Van. He's wearing shirt with a motorbike guy on it that says " I do my own stunts" They are hanging out at the park. Oh, a halloween costume picture already. They're Bob and Linda Belcher from Bob's Burgers. It's pretty funny. Some friends of mine in Minneapolis. It's just a picture of their fireplace because it started snowing there last week so I suppose it's chilly. The picture is in black and white too just so you know. Oh, and they were listening to classical music. It said so in his comment. Spending my morning with Beethoven dialed up to 11. Another friend of mine in Minneapolis, also snow and they are out with their baby Joaquin, they call him Kino.

Another friend of my who opened up a yoga studio this time it's pictures of food from her garden. She picks food from her garden, which is cool. Oh my old friend from high school Nate. From what I can gather he and his wife split and it's been a bit of a battle for his kids, a custody battle. Looks like he got to spend some time with them so I'm happy for him that he got to do that. Oh, another one of my high school friends. She's out in San Francisco. She has some wild red hair. Looks good, she always looks really awesome.

Betty the boxer, she's a dog that I follow. She's a boxer, maybe you couldn't tell that by her name. Betty the Boxer. Cute dog. Oh that's my friend Nate again, taking a picture of his kids playing video games. They had a blast he reports in his caption.

Man the same people keep on coming up.

There's the person who went to a costume party. They went as a Bob's burgers. This one she's got a picture of a kid who is dressed up as a cat. Oh look it's Jess Delicious. She's doing the whole day 30 so she's posting pictures of that. And this is a meatballs, last minute asian meatballs with pesto cauliflower. Looks pretty good, well everything she makes is good. Jess Delicious. This person I know lived in Minneapolis briefly but hated the cold so she moved to California. Looks like she was out biking. I guess that's what you do in California. That's kind of boring, I'm going to skip that. Looks like a daughter of my friend got her hair done. It's blue. I don't know what that is I'm going to skip that.

Oh, something from the Atlanta Pride Parade, someone posted a picture of that. Another friend of mine from Minneapolis is a photographer and he took a picture of first ave. They are at a zombie pub crawl. It's a cool picture. Another yoga picture. I follow a lot of yoga. I don't know who this person is I should just unfollow them. Oh these people were on a boat, the brooklyn barge, is the location she has, bears and beers, ah I see ok. I like her coat, it's a fuzzy jacket.


 

Geraldine's instagram feed

The first image is from hot reak social club which is a tattoo parlor in Dublin. I'm thinking about getting a tattoo but I've actually cancelled it like three times so maybe I'm not getting a tattoo. But this picture is of two roses one is black and one is red and it's on a person's arm. It says "roses". The next image is from National Geographic, it's of a little boy, oh, a little girl in a hat I think, it says "embracing the monsoon rain" in a rain hat. The next picture is also National Geographic uh, and it's a picture of a funeral procession in Saudia Arabia in the Philippines.

The next picture is from society six which is an art collective I follow that seems to sell cheap art. i t says "suggests of decor if the dark nights are kind of upsetting you". 4:30 pm sunsets getting you down? Here's seven simple effective decor hacks. Cool.

The next picture is National Geographic again and it's people in the rain somewhere with umbrellas. We have a picture now from Yoga Dublin sitting on a yoga mat doing a yoga pose. Now some picture of steak from something called Loving Dublin. Someone called mother heart and a video of their cat. And the daily dog picture. I'm haven't been following the news so I'm not sure what it refers to. Another picture of yoga dublin, this is just it's a picture of someone's face. It's advertising a workshop of people. There's no people, all of this is just national geographic.

Picture of some bottles of whisky from a bar in Chester. Oh my goodness, all advertising. The subway book review which is a cool thing i follow. Someone's reading a book reading Invisible Emmy. This is the title of a book that boosts your confidence. If you ever feel that nobody can see you, you can compare yourself to Emmy because nobody can see her. National Geographic again, there is a big bear eating a fish. "Spirit bear" Then society six again this art collective again, there's a cat reading a book saying "world domination for cats" National geographic again, the flower cut picture of a hot chocolate.

Robert Montgomery studio he is like a poet or artist. I think it's in Brighton, he uses this neon lettering. It says, "the people you love become ghosts inside you." And like this you keep them alive. I like that. He is selling those prints for an affordable price but the affordable price is 250 pounds which I find not so affordable. Airbnb, a dog outside of some orange houses. Oh Robert Montgomery again, "all palaces are temporary palaces". Written in the inside of a swimming pool. A cat in a sombrero by Mcgee street bakery which is a bakery in north hampton which is my hometown. National Geographic again. A picture of landscapes by a mixed media art. Yoga Dublin, on the background of roses the attitude of gratitude is the highest power.

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You probably have a decent feel for who these people are based on their Instagram feeds. That is amazing to me, that our perception of someone else is based off of their perceptions of other people. And so on and so on. It's a constructed reality, it is what you make of it. Perhaps that is what scares me about social media. What if I completely construct a false reality based off of other people's realities and miss out on my very own amazing reality? Truth is, it's hard to say which reality would make us happier. It's really your attitude that creates happiness.

Someone once said to me that the problem isn't the internet, but that people do not know how to use it. That stuck with me. As we are bombarded with technology keeping an awareness of how you use social media is important. Just like with crack, you can always argue you just use it occasionally. But you are still smoking crack, right? If I use it twice a week, it can't be harmful, or can it? Depends on how you use it, but some things are better not used at all. Crack is probably one of those. The jury is still out on social media platforms.


 

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  • No name 4 years, 6 months ago

    I think it really is up to interpretation and you have to consider all sides!