I continue to think about an essay in Time magazine regarding Facebook--Mark Zuckerberg was Time's "Person of the Year" for 2010. In this essay, Richard Stengel argues that "All social media involve a mixture of narcissism and voyeurism."
The statement may be true, but it's also a little depressing. It suggests that if we have any interest in social media, it's either because we are obsessed with ourselves, or obsessed with snooping into other people's lives. Either way, it doesn't sound real healthy.
As this relates to those silly people who keep blogs (ContentiousIntrovert comes to mind), the "narcissism" part is haunting. Are blogs just a way for people to stroke their own ego and pretend that what they are thinking is somehow important and worth noting?
On the one hand, like lots of other people, I simply want to know that at some level, I'm heard, and I'm recognized. On the other hand, I am keenly aware that it's presumptuous to think that I have something to say that's worth hearing in the first place. This tension is also evident in my world with respect to "marketing"--I recognize the need to promote who you are and what you do, but I am, in the end, uncomfortable telling the world about it. So, I have a blog that I seldom mention; I've written a textbook that I seldom promote; and I accomplish things, often modest, that give me a little glow inside but stay largely internalized. It's as if I want the world to see me, but at the same time I hate asking to be seen. Go figure. It's a conundrum that has lurked in the back of my mind for basically my entire life--which, now that it's 2011, seems like a pretty long time.
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