Is Social Media Destroying Perfection? - Discussing the Pros and Cons of a Life Exposed

We used to put people up on pedestals.

Back when I went to school (in the 90s), I thought the famous people I idolised were pretty close to perfect. Now, with social media and the resulting instant and constant sharing, nobody is really up on a pedestal anymore, are they? Does this exposure create more humanised and realistic people to aspire to, or does it lower the bar and make it acceptable to be something we shouldn't really aspire to be? Let's discuss the pros and cons of a life exposed.

Before social media, people's errors were not so easily exposed. The scandals we saw were people stumbling, bleary-eyed, makeup smudged, still half-drunk or drug-affected from a very big night before. Or maybe they were photographed by the paps with their hand on someone's knee and a notably absent significant other. Tabloid magazines contained all the secrets and hot goss. But now.

Now.

Now it's all on social media. Everyone's impulses acted upon with little thought. Photos shared exposing the truth: We are all flawed. Nothing that anyone does is perfect. Perfect doesn't exist anymore. Perfect is an illusion and now, everybody knows it.

Is social media destroying the myth of perfection? Perfect is just a perfectly orchestrated image giving the illusion of something as close to perfection as one can get, with the right parts hidden and the best parts shown off. So, lets make this clear...

The Pros and Cons of a Life Exposed:

Pro: Destroying the myth of perfect

Con: Lowering the bar on what is acceptable

Pro: People being real and honest

Con: Destruction of the 'idol'

Pro: People can control their own image

Con: People can control their own image

Pro: Bringing people closer together

Con: People can't get away

I suppose when I see these words on the screen in front of me, about a life exposed and all of the 'cons': lowering the bar on what is acceptable, destruction of the idol, people being able to control their own image - These things all sound like positive things. It's the last point that I think is the key point:

Is posting a poem about pubic hair discrediting my legitimacy as a serious writer?

People can't get away.

People post things without putting enough thought into it. People are real, yes, but online, the real issue is being a bit too impulsive without putting quite enough time or distance between a thought and how our actions could affect us (or other people) in the future. Are we all a bit dumb? Well, maybe just not experts in everything. Sometimes we're tired. Sometimes we're hurt and angry. Then' we look for comfort, sympathy, company, support etc. etc. So, we end up with public posts airing private grievances, private details shared when they shouldn't have been, plus words and pictures not vetted before being released into the world. Then we (and others) suffer the consequences. Oops.

Oops.

What does this tell us?

That we need to put a little bit more thought into what we post, and perhaps, sometimes put some time between the thought we have about something being a good idea, then the moment we actually do it. But then, our public personas become a little more orchestrated, and more like the idols on pedestals of ye olden days, right?

On the flip side, being as real as possible has to be a good thing, right? Aren't we then working to shift unreasonable expectations to more reasonable ones? But, who gets to decide what is reasonable and what isn't?

Welcome to the thoughts inside my head. You have been on board the Marley thought train, I hope that you have enjoyed the ride. There are no answers in this blog, only discussion.

So, please do tell:

What are your thoughts?

Leave a comment, i'd love to know.

Much love,

Marley