Just Another Pretty Face ... book?

Is Facebook just another pretty face?

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc... Social media. Fake news? Or the real deal? Can we really tell?  And what makes social media so different from face-to-face interaction with another human body?

Well, for one thing, I don't have to directly interact with another human in the room. I don't have to/get to see the non-verbal cues the person is giving me. I don't have to/get to see body language, hear actual tone from the voice, see what's behind the eyes. I also don't have to/get to see them emotionally check out, walk away, roll their eyes or make a face. I can be anybody. Everybody can be anybody.

Is Facebook just an air-brushed version of ourselves? 

When we see OPP (other people's posts), what are we really seeing? Whatever the person chooses to present. Whatever the person wants you to see. What we can forget, is that its not the whole picture. 

One of the tendencies many of us have, is to compare the parts of ourselves we don't want others to see (reference "From Shame to Shaman" discussion) with what we are being shown. The 2 may not match up. This is what wise woman Paula Heegaard called "comparing insides to outsides." How can our insides possibly match up to the glorious outsides of that airbrushed life we see on social media channels?

Some use Facebook as free therapy. Emotional blast here, emotional blast there, here a blast, there a blast, everywhere a blast blast...  Some post the pretty. Some post links of their personal interest. Some try to educate others. It's also a marketing tool. And more. 

What I think is important here, is to not base your personal worth on what you see on social media, and remember, what you see isn't the whole picture. It's a person's choice for that moment in time. How much does that person's choice affect you? Does it inspire you? Push your buttons? Make you think? Send you into a dark hole of self-loathing? Change your life? 

This "pretty Face"book world may be convenient. We interact when and if we want to. We can wear our heart on our sleeve. We can shout to the world what a great job we are doing. We don't even have to use words. We can just take a picture, proving how great things are. Collecting evidence of a reality that may or may not exist. 

And when we are living in the physical world of "Flesh-and-blood book", how is that going? Or are we constantly evaluating our life events as "post-worthy" or "not post-worthy?" 

I use Facebook. I know why I post. I know why I read OPPs. I check my "likes" like most of us. I appreciate seeing what old friends from around the globe are doing. I share things I want people to know about. I like looking at funny videos of goat yoga. I also like other shiny objects and pretty things that have nothing to do with staring at my computer screen or phone. But I see them for they are. Just Another Pretty Face. And we know the work that goes into making and keeping all those pretty faces...

So, great job everyone! Isn't that what we all really want?