Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube – all amazing inventions that have led to massive surges in connectivity, creativity and discovery. News and information travel faster than anyone could’ve predicted. People now can keep in close contact with relatives and friends from across the globe. Social and political movements are able to gain blazing traction quickly through the instantaneousness nature of social media. And how many people have been “discovered,” gaining real global appeal after attracting the “likes” and “shares” of millions on the internet for broadcasting their fashion tips, musical covers and other artistic endeavors?
But how many of you, before the rise of social media, talked about fame like it was something abnormal and undesirable? I grew up under the impression that there was likely something wrong with people who sought mass amounts of attention. It was, to some degree, an illness to be so obsessed with yourself. When teachers required my elementary school classes to create “all about me” boards to present to the class at the beginning of the year as get-to-know-you assignments, my dad told me not to do them, saying the recent surfacing of the “you’re special” social operation shouldn’t be encouraged because it would lead to entitlement and a selfish “me, me, me” mindset. From the get-go I learned that not every kid should get a trophy at the end of soccer season. Not every question, opinion or idea should be glorified with a gold star. And these ideas have been embedded in me. We’re really not all that special despite what our 4th grade teachers might have told us while she handed out rice crispy treats. And we shouldn’t be led to believe that we’re these amazing individuals who are entitled to complements, pats on the back and acknowledgement every time we do something normal, or that isn’t terrible.
So, growing up I thought famous people were a unique breed of human. They were the ones who suffered from extreme self-absorption. They were likely insecure and obsessed with outside approval for things that didn’t, and shouldn’t matter. And almost every good thing they did was for the sake of personal advancement in popularity. Their mindsets were irritating, and their obsessions with attention and publicity didn’t sound appealing to me – to broadcast their lives to strangers who didn’t genuinely care about them in order to gain as many “likes,” or virtual pats on the back, as possible for nothing more than a selfie at VASA.
Yet, despite how disgusting this level of narcissism may seem, it skyrocketed with the rise of social media, extending to a populous far beyond the realms of Hollywood and “starletism.” Suddenly every average citizen had an outlet to reach fame. And with the millennials’ “you’re special and don’t you forget it” upbringing, we haven’t held back. Forget all the crap we dropped on celebrities and their selfish practices earlier on. It was our time to shine. We shifted our focus from a skim once a month through “People Magazine” to minute by minute postings online of people we vaguely know sipping Starbucks, and who we only follow so they’ll follow back and up our “like” count.
Social media has its place. And I’m not about to combat that. But I do think people should be wary of the effect social media is having on their lives: what they prioritize and value, and their overall mental health. Things like how many people like your photos, how many followers you have on Instagram, and who’s retweeting your comments have banned together to become defining factors of peoples’ worth in our society – as if worth stems from how popular you are for things that don’t genuinely matter. Trust me, at the end of the day, the attention you get for how “on fleek” your eyebrows are, or how cute your hair looks at the gym, aren’t going to be what have lasting impacts on the world you leave behind. I mean, by all means, please represent yourself professionally on Facebook, and share useful life hacks and fun recipes. But don’t lose sight of what really matters. Don’t be that girl who can’t be present in the moment because she’s trying to angle her chin just right for the selfie she’s retaken six times. There’s more to life than you, so take the time to forget how special and wonderful you are, and step outside yourself because the people, the world and the experiences around you are more worthy of attention.