The other day, I was waiting for my order at the local Western Bagel when three nineteen-year-olds walked in. I didn’t card them or anything, but let’s just say they made me feel old and laughed way too much to be full-fledged adults. After they ordered, they walked over to the beverage refrigerator to get a drink. But instead of just grabbing one and going, one of the girls whipped out her phone and said, “Wait, take my picture!” The others obliged and then asked for THEIR turn in front of the camera. Naked Juice was not this exciting when I was a teen. But it got me thinking.
I read lots of personal blogs as well as my Facebook news feed and yes, there are plenty of pictures of people doing the mundane things they are writing about. It seems like a totally normal thing to view these days, but when you actually think about the effort that goes into broadcasting your life (not to mention all the Instagram filters you can chose from) you basically have become your own hobby. Hmmm…
Now I spend a good portion of my time telling stories on the Internet. I tweet and I blog to entertain, but you won’t find too many candid pics from my cell phone. This is mainly because I’d feel like a moron to ask someone to take a picture of me waiting in line at the pharmacy. Maybe I need a bigger pair of balls?
Or maybe life is meant to be lived and not paused at every turn to document it. One of my favorite lines from Rent (musical theatre nerd here!) is “for someone who longs for a community of his own/Who’s with his camera, alone?” Have we really created a society where individuals feel that to live is to lifecast?
I am torn on the issue because I also see the benefit of looking back and seeing what you were up to back when. We all know our unforgettable moments. But sometimes looking back to the mundane can be equally revealing and nostalgic.
Or we’re just gonna be pissed someday that all of our pictures look like bad 70’s porn.
I’m proud that all my pictures look like bad 70s porn, I got the ‘stashe’, and puffy afro working. Keep on Truckin’! ( they used to say that in the 70s).
I have that exact same alarm clock!
They probably wanted to make a joke to give some boys they know boners: “Me and Ashlyn and Kelly are getting naked together lol ;)”
Also, there’s oxytocin spikes to consider: http://www.postinstitute.com/articles/291-oxytocin-in-the-news.html
REAL JUICE!!! #callback #hashtaggingoutsideoftwitter #stealinghardwicksjokes
Those girls in line have completely gone too far. Not to say that the occasional frivolous post isn’t alright. It’s just when you find yourself constantly going back to Facebook or twitter to tell people how your lunch was or the fact that your kid crapped it’s pants (Sadly I’ve seen more than one post on my timeline like that) . That’s when it’s time to step back from social media and actually start living life again.
I dislike taking pictures of mundane things, I find it, well mundane. Sometimes if done correctly mundane pictures can be a work of art. Unfortunately the vast majority of people are not artists.
Back when I actually updated my blog (before Facebook ate all my time), I would be disturbed by the amount of times that something would happen and in the back of my mind all I could think of was “oooh, this will make a great post”. Instead of living and experiencing the moment, I was focused on documenting and recording the event. I think a balance needs to be struck between living our lives on and offline. When you find out what that balance is, please let the rest of us know!
Quit thinking so damn much! 😉