Pages

Monday 11 August 2014

The feisbuk illusion

We all, in varying degrees, suffer from illusion about ourselves.
Feisbuk feeds our illusion even more. On fb, people more often agree than disagree, more often compliment than criticise, more often support than attack. Seeing someone stupid, ignorant, narrow-minded, illogical, pathetic, ridiculous... people most of the time choose to make no remark (because, what's the point of arguing?). Besides, fb has the button "like" but no "dislike", and we sometimes forget that a "like" doesn't always mean "I like this" and "I find this good", but can also mean "I support you", "I sympathise with you", "This is for your efforts" or, worse, "This is proof I've read/ seen your post". These things aren't new, but the thought that a post of ours is so 'popular' it must be good, is so hard to resist. Over time, people who don't have acute self-awareness believe themselves much greater, much more talented and popular than they really are, and this can be harmful. 



But then it may not. If someone remains forever in a bubble, how can they get disillusioned? Even if they do suffer some disillusionment at some point, it may not be too severe- after a long time such a person may very well find a way of consoling themselves. Oh well... 


No comments:

Post a Comment

Be not afraid, gentle readers! Share your thoughts!
(Make sure to save your text before hitting publish, in case your comment gets buried in the attic, never to be seen again).