i am not perfect.
My friend wrote a fascinating blog on perfecting one's virtual identity as presented by facebook, myspace, etc.
Evan's Thoughts:
What I mean is that it is all too tempting to spend hours upon end perfecting one's digital self. The concept of multiple selves is an inherently ironic idea, yet unavoidable when creating any sort of online profile (such as facebook or myspace). It basically hinges on the idea that the persona presented online doesn't necessarily need to be an exact reflection of one's actual self. This becomes evident in the process of "tagging" and "untagging" pictures on facebook.
Scenario:
Mary uploads a picture of herself and John. Karen visits John's facebook profile and sees the picture of Mary and John. John sees the picture and doesn't like it. John untags himself from the picture. Fred visits John's facebook profile and does not see the picture of Mary and John.
Argument:
The virtual John that Fred saw online is different than the virtual John that Karen saw online.
Now the interesting question. Why did John untag the picture? It's not as though the person in the picture was someone else. Or was it? I think that the person in the picture was identical to real John, but not identical to virtual John. Let me explain.
Virtual John is the person that was created when John created his facebook account. Virtual John differs from real John in that the first impressions that virtual John makes are controllable to a much higher degree than the first impressions that real John makes. John is able to craft his virtual identity to his heart's content. If real John has an unattractive birth mark, all he need do is untag any picture that shows
it, and presto! Virtual John has no such blemish.
And it goes beyond the pictures. We can obsess over sections such as "about me" and "favorite music" until the impression that our profile gives is exactly the one desired. We take on the role of God when we edit our facebook profile and tag or untag pictures, creating the most perfect person
possible after our own image.
There are, however, some aspects of these virtual people that make me uncomfortable.
First, by untagging pictures in which we find ourselves unattractive, aren't we cheating the viewers of our profile by offering a less accurate representation of who we actually are? Every person has the potential for stunning beauty but also for base ugliness. How well would you feel that you know a person if you had only seen them in their moments of beauty?
Second, when viewed in the manner that I am presenting, facebook seems almost like a form of multiple personalities. I think it is too early to tell what sort of long-term psychological effects that will have on us.
Third, I think it's all too possible to get caught in an vicious cycle of self-improvement. Nobody is perfect, and no amount of untagging or profile-editing will ever make us satisfied with our own imperfections. Is there such a thing as an immaculate facebook profile? I laugh at the idea even as I type. Spending long periods of time making minor corrections to our profile is an exercise in fruitlessness, and instead I think we should allow our profiles to be as simple and accurate as possible.
That idea reminds me of an analogy that a professor of Hinduism once used to explain the concept of abandoning one's concern for earthly pleasures:
"I love apple pie. It is delicious, and therefore I love to eat it. When I finish one apple pie, however, the pleasure quickly subsides, and I must find another apple pie in order to feel good again. If eating apple pie will lead to satisfaction, then logically there must some day
come a time where I finish a pie and say, 'Those many pies that I have eaten were delicious. But now I have had enough apple pie. I no longer need any more apple pie and am now satisfied.' But that day will never come. The best satisfaction can be found in renouncing apple pie, for that is the only way to achieve the satisfaction of being free from craving it."
Don't get me wrong-- I am just as guilty as everyone else for untagging pictures and spending too much time worrying over my facebook profile. That is exactly one of the factors that contributed to my quitting facebook a year ago. It felt good to not have to concern myself over the virtual me that was being presented to all my friends. But now I am back on it, because I recognized that
without it, keeping in touch with my friends would become difficult.
So I am eating apple pie again. But this time around I am eating it sparingly and in modest portions.
- E.C.
I find myself most succeptible to trying to edit the "virtual me" of livejournal, so it is an odd sensation writing this. Part of me wants to leave livejournal behind and to experience the sensation of a 'fresh start' using another medium (blogging, xanga, whatever) would give me. A blank canvas on which to create the Sarah of now, without the me defined by all of my past entries. It's an exciting thought, to be sure, being able to recreate yourself, sound more intellectual, sound like you care less, sound like you're artsy, be whoever you want. It's the kind of feeling moving to a new city is bound to create, but trying to be someone you're not, as all the Boy Meets Worlds always taught me, is a lot more problematic than it seems. As childish as it seems, I would argue we all do it anyway. We just don't talk about it cause everyone else is doing it too. 9 times out of 10 we are not who our facebook profiles claim we are.
Right now I'm fighting the urge to delete this completely or to make it private, because I'm just contributing to the mass of stuff on the internet. This isn't by any means an original thought, but something that deserves some rethinking anyway.
Evan's Thoughts:
What I mean is that it is all too tempting to spend hours upon end perfecting one's digital self. The concept of multiple selves is an inherently ironic idea, yet unavoidable when creating any sort of online profile (such as facebook or myspace). It basically hinges on the idea that the persona presented online doesn't necessarily need to be an exact reflection of one's actual self. This becomes evident in the process of "tagging" and "untagging" pictures on facebook.
Scenario:
Mary uploads a picture of herself and John. Karen visits John's facebook profile and sees the picture of Mary and John. John sees the picture and doesn't like it. John untags himself from the picture. Fred visits John's facebook profile and does not see the picture of Mary and John.
Argument:
The virtual John that Fred saw online is different than the virtual John that Karen saw online.
Now the interesting question. Why did John untag the picture? It's not as though the person in the picture was someone else. Or was it? I think that the person in the picture was identical to real John, but not identical to virtual John. Let me explain.
Virtual John is the person that was created when John created his facebook account. Virtual John differs from real John in that the first impressions that virtual John makes are controllable to a much higher degree than the first impressions that real John makes. John is able to craft his virtual identity to his heart's content. If real John has an unattractive birth mark, all he need do is untag any picture that shows
it, and presto! Virtual John has no such blemish.
And it goes beyond the pictures. We can obsess over sections such as "about me" and "favorite music" until the impression that our profile gives is exactly the one desired. We take on the role of God when we edit our facebook profile and tag or untag pictures, creating the most perfect person
possible after our own image.
There are, however, some aspects of these virtual people that make me uncomfortable.
First, by untagging pictures in which we find ourselves unattractive, aren't we cheating the viewers of our profile by offering a less accurate representation of who we actually are? Every person has the potential for stunning beauty but also for base ugliness. How well would you feel that you know a person if you had only seen them in their moments of beauty?
Second, when viewed in the manner that I am presenting, facebook seems almost like a form of multiple personalities. I think it is too early to tell what sort of long-term psychological effects that will have on us.
Third, I think it's all too possible to get caught in an vicious cycle of self-improvement. Nobody is perfect, and no amount of untagging or profile-editing will ever make us satisfied with our own imperfections. Is there such a thing as an immaculate facebook profile? I laugh at the idea even as I type. Spending long periods of time making minor corrections to our profile is an exercise in fruitlessness, and instead I think we should allow our profiles to be as simple and accurate as possible.
That idea reminds me of an analogy that a professor of Hinduism once used to explain the concept of abandoning one's concern for earthly pleasures:
"I love apple pie. It is delicious, and therefore I love to eat it. When I finish one apple pie, however, the pleasure quickly subsides, and I must find another apple pie in order to feel good again. If eating apple pie will lead to satisfaction, then logically there must some day
come a time where I finish a pie and say, 'Those many pies that I have eaten were delicious. But now I have had enough apple pie. I no longer need any more apple pie and am now satisfied.' But that day will never come. The best satisfaction can be found in renouncing apple pie, for that is the only way to achieve the satisfaction of being free from craving it."
Don't get me wrong-- I am just as guilty as everyone else for untagging pictures and spending too much time worrying over my facebook profile. That is exactly one of the factors that contributed to my quitting facebook a year ago. It felt good to not have to concern myself over the virtual me that was being presented to all my friends. But now I am back on it, because I recognized that
without it, keeping in touch with my friends would become difficult.
So I am eating apple pie again. But this time around I am eating it sparingly and in modest portions.
- E.C.
I find myself most succeptible to trying to edit the "virtual me" of livejournal, so it is an odd sensation writing this. Part of me wants to leave livejournal behind and to experience the sensation of a 'fresh start' using another medium (blogging, xanga, whatever) would give me. A blank canvas on which to create the Sarah of now, without the me defined by all of my past entries. It's an exciting thought, to be sure, being able to recreate yourself, sound more intellectual, sound like you care less, sound like you're artsy, be whoever you want. It's the kind of feeling moving to a new city is bound to create, but trying to be someone you're not, as all the Boy Meets Worlds always taught me, is a lot more problematic than it seems. As childish as it seems, I would argue we all do it anyway. We just don't talk about it cause everyone else is doing it too. 9 times out of 10 we are not who our facebook profiles claim we are.
Right now I'm fighting the urge to delete this completely or to make it private, because I'm just contributing to the mass of stuff on the internet. This isn't by any means an original thought, but something that deserves some rethinking anyway.