The way social media has established itself in our lives is remarkable. The gestation from solitary profile websites such as”Facepic’ and ‘Myspace’, in the early 2000’s is a new type of social media. Changing the landscape of not just social media but our usage of technology and the internet in general.
Social media: Your space, my space, everyone’s space
Rather than just connecting to our own profiles we start social media to a feed of everyone else’s business.
It’s not so much about our space or profiles, but how we stamp our virtual self in others. And therefore, how others stamp themselves in ours.
This I feel is why Twitter has such a cult following. We can gain others status by having them interact with our profile. This allows us to leave a stamp for all to see, like a badge of self-worth and status.
The virtual stamp
I’m not immune to this ‘virtual attainment of ‘status’. I have talked to celebrities and chefs in order for others to comment on my online ‘celebrity interactions’.
In the past, the only way we could interact with celebrities was to send them fan mail or to, by chance, meet them on the street.
The tag line of this blog entry; ‘Like real life, but better,’ is the slogan of the hugely successful dating app tinder.
How close is this to our way of thinking and is social media better than real life for many of us?
Where we can edit the way we are perceived into our virtual alter ego, connect with the world from the comfort of our home and seek to interact with others even when we are in the midst of a physical interaction.
Why are we all so compelled to spend our time on social media rather than real-life interactions?