It seems as though exact motivating factor behind our need to constantly document our lives is fueled by knowing that everything we think about or take a picture of has the potential to be the content of our next tweet or Instagam post. We’re sharing constantly and probably not with the good intentions that we had when we were kids. We’re sharing as if we’re doing all of our friends (or followers) a favor. So by posting a picture of the concert we just went to, the meal we just ate, the place we just went to for vacation, the shoes we just bought, and of the friends we’re having such a good time hanging out with, it shows that we almost feel inclined to share these things not for the sake of sharing but to make sure that everyone else knows that our lives are “like really great” and probably better than someone else’s at the moment.
I fall victim to this, and sometimes I realize it after the fact and feel bad about it for a few minutes until I start to get notifications of all of the likes my pictures get. Sometimes I do it with complete acceptance of the fact that I’m doing it and hope my conscience will forgive me later, but other times I find myself losing track of how many times I’ve checked my phone and immediately regret it. The good thing that comes out of all of this (aside from the satisfaction you get when you scroll through your favorite pictures) is that through social media and with the help of some great editing applications, our generation is producing really awesome pictures.
Even if we’re posting something on Instagram just for the sake of sharing, we can decide to do so while sitting at our desk drinking a cup of tea reading for class – we’ll try to make the picture more interesting by switching up the lighting, changing up the focus, and editing the final product to leave us with something that we created by choice. So we might be a generation of show-offs but at least our “bragging” is pleasing to the eye, right?