Sometimes I think social networking sites are products of the devil. They’re intentions, while good, in terms of connecting family and long lost friends, turns evil when we only see what others want us to see. Then we get on our judgement glasses and envision the grass on the other side of the fence and suddenly feel that it looks a bit greener than ours.
Now I say the sites are evil and that’s only my opinion in the fact that my mind tends to ponder what life could have been like if I had made other choices. I see old friends on trips with new boyfriends and then in their wedding dresses, buying homes and remodeling and then pregnant bellies with scenes 9 months later holding their new babies. The progression of life right before my eyes on a social networking site for all the world to see.
When we think of social networking, in times past one would see a crowded smoky bar filled with colleagues discussing the various themes of the day. People used to venture out into the world and connect face to face or through similar recreational activities or hobbies. Today our contacts “poke” one another in a virtual world and we find our acceptance through a friend request. The notification we receive via text or email that we’ve been contacted by someone in turn sends triggers to our brains that entice our hypothalamus which sends out endorphins that make us feel happy. Being poked on facebook actually creates a chemical reaction which in turn makes us happy!
When this part of the brain calls for endorphins, it initiates a chain of messages by chemically prompting the pituitary gland to release its own chemicals that then make their way to glands throughout your body and on down the line until endorphin-containing neurons release them. These endorphins then find their way to the brain’s opioid receptors.
Announcements that people want to talk to us creates a chemical reaction in our bodies and this is what drives us to keep logging back on and checking status updates and if anyone posted anything new to our sites. We’re addicted. Rather, hooked to the rush of “happy” endorphin’s we get when we feel connected to something outside ourselves. But what happens when this connection and rush to our opioid receptors doesn’t occur? The con effect of not having anyone contact us or “poke” us or add us as friends? What happens is we get depressed and a feeling of rejection falls over us. Loneliness and disillusionment that our lack of friends is a result of something we need to change about ourselves. It’s a virtual world people!! It’s not something to put so much stock into that when it crashes so does our real world lives.
The Commentary about FaceBook on SouthPark
The creators make a good point… It was said that once joining a social networking site he started to get bombarded with questions about what he was doing and what he ate and it began to get annoying. Then the accusations began about why there was no response?! “I posted something to your page, why didn’t you respond?”
Does your post warrant a response? Why do I have to reply to something just because it was posted to my site? It’s in our nature to desire a response to an action we’ve taken. The gesture of extending our hand when meeting someone for the first time. The comment on the page is our virtual hand being extended with the basic human desire for contact. Our world has changed and our basic needs are being met through a virtual world of social networking. Maybe the visionaries who wrote the screenplay for the movie Fight Club had it right when the rebels took out the financial systems subsequently eliminating debt and allowing us a fresh start. Maybe that is what needs to be done with social networking.
Yet here I sit typing away to another social outlet in order to get my thoughts and ideas out to a larger audience. The need to have myself heard and have my opinions validated and shared with people I might not have had the chance to meet if not for the wonders of the power of the internet.
The point I was trying to make with all of this is that I sit and look at the pages of facebook… My “friends” and I ponder life and think… What if I had made different choices with my life? Look at her with her new baby and her husband and their beautiful home. What a lovely life. I start to have self doubt that the life I’m living somehow doesn’t measure up to those pages I see on the internet. The grass over there looks greener at times. Then I stop.
I’m only seeing a glimpse into their lives… Only seeing what they want me to see. I don’t know their entire story and while that grass is green it very well could be fake. It’s some synthetic AstroTurf giving the illusion of vibrant luster that is life.
I’ll stick to my side of the fence and know that I’ve made the best choices for me. While they might not always be what some consider to be right, they’ve made me who I am today. To which without I would not be writing these pondering thoughts here today.
