Our generation is the first to be raised by old school parents and also grow up in tandem with technology. There were dinosaur computers and rotary phones with the curly fry cords before we arrived, but it wasn't until we started growing up that smaller devices started emerging. Flat screens, DVDs, CD players, phones with cameras! But you get it and the list goes on.
We were able to figure out the nooks and crannies of the internet, cellphones, and other devices, Why? Because we're nosey. I can honestly say I would try to listen in on my sister's phone calls by going in another room and put my hand over the receiver (as if there wasn't a mute button). Yea I got caught but that's beside the point. I understood SOMETHING about phones. And I really tried to sneak not one, but two MySpace pages past my mother. It wasn't really because I didn't know about all the crazy rumors surrounding it, but because I kinda knew how it worked. I wasn't worried about random old men trying to be in my Top 10 because I didn't add people I didn't know (I think). Anyway, my original point of reference was I understood social media and I wanted to "fit in" so I defied my mother's wishes. Just for that. What a waste!
Now we have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, etc. and we can't control ourselves! Lucious Lyon can have cake stuffed in his face at 9:57 and by 9:57:48, there are 100 memes about it. And y'all know I'm BARELY over exaggerating! The power of a screenshot and a meme creator is strong. One picture can have so many "that moment when" scenarios that fit perfectly and hit everyone's funny bone every time. We created this monster. We ARE the monster. We find joy in laughter and ridicule that we surpass the reality of personal feelings that lie beneath the pictures.
Okay, get ready for the smack in the face.
We have given social media to define us by way of hashtags, memes, and "share if you agree" posts. I cannot tell you how agitated I get when I see a post saying "you know she a hoe if she uses the doggy filter on Snapchat". Like, little boy, shut up. Stop trying to be butt hurt because she didn't want you. And don't even get me started on the "light skinned/brown skinned/dark skinned/mixed/yellow/pale/green faced/big forehead girls are the best" posts. Who even makes those? You cannot be THAT full of yourself that you really believe just because you have a certain feature that makes you a tier higher than the next. Give me a baby wipe and you'll be the girl your bashing.
(NOW is the smack in the face)
But is that where the problem lies? Do we want to be real because our authenticity isn't what social media wants? Shouldn't we love what we're given? Do we REALLY think what's on the internet is the final definition, synonym, and example of real? Do we even want to be the IG girl or the #MCM of the world?
Do we want to be real or do we want to be authentic?
Until next yime...
