In a haze of semi-exhaustion, I flipped through the channels on the TV, hoping for something remotely interesting to use as an excuse for not going to bed. I stumbled upon a movie called "The Truman Show:" a movie I had heard referenced, but had never actually seen. I settled in and tried to keep my eyes open long enough to at least understand the central plot.

Once the movie finished, I stumbled up to bed, tired beyond belief but not regretting a thing. I am writing this about a week after this encounter with Truman Burbank, and I think I finally have my thoughts organized enough to make a cohesive statement.

"The Truman Show" was made in 1998, 6 years before the rise of Facebook. It centers around the life of Truman Burbank, an insurance salesman whose entire life has been broadcast, unbeknownst to him, to the rest of the world. His entire life is a sham: a set, a screenplay, constructed and designed around him, with the bonus illusion of free will. While I certainly won't go so far as to say that we, as consumers and participants in social media, have completely fake lives, but I do believe that we have begun a cultural shift towards broadcasting our entire lives to the hungry public.

We have an inherent need to feel entertained and "stimulated;" it's human nature. Throughout history, that stimulant has changed from plays to books to movies, and now to social media. We now view each other through the lens of Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat. Why do some people go to such lengths to "stalk" prospective partners or exes? It's a fun way to get information, and makes the participant feel like they're finding things that aren't meant to be seen. In reality, it's the complete opposite.

Users of social media have constructed their own "Truman Shows." The camera is constantly turned on themselves; "look what I ate/did/watched! Aren't I entertaining?" We have become accustomed to this level of attention that the concept of privacy is slowly beginning to evaporate, if it hasn't already. Granted, not everyone is livestreaming every second of every day, but we're getting close. (I've seen people who livestream themselves sleeping! If that's not frightening, then I don't know what is.)

This concept of perpetual observation is not only toxic, it's an out and out invasion of privacy. I understand getting sucked into this mentality of "it's all about me," but frankly, it's exhausting. If we keep up this behavior, soon enough our entire lives will be on broadcast, in much the same way as Truman's was. Everyone was rooting for Truman to get out of his "life;" it was next to impossible not to. We just need to shift this attitude towards ourselves. My ideal life does not involve posting every move I make onto social media. Does yours?