Applaud Me and I'll Applaud You Back

"In the words of John Lennon... You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not."
"...the only one?"

Facebook, twitter, social media sites in general: they tell you "join the conversation!" -- leading you to believe that if you're not in on it, you're missing out.

But the whole thing is that it's not at true conversation, it's a performance. It's a conversation between two people in front of many. The internet has become a stage for the narcissists and the dreamers. Don't be offended-- we all dream. It's a personal performance by every individual to promote their personality, and in some cases, their businesses and beliefs. We post pictures to show how awesome we are and we update statuses to convince the world that we're worth spending a few seconds every day to be read about. Don't think I'm trying to tell you to change your habits. There's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with being active on social media and expressing your thoughts, nor embracing who you actually are.

Do you ever meet those people that have completely different personalities online than they do in person? It's so easy to be someone else when there is a screen in front of them. Think of all the things we're screening ourselves from. Somehow there's always a small layer between us and the real world. Online, in cars, over text messages...

"We lie to our friends over facebook and we tell the truth to strangers over twitter". Social media helps us to promote ourselves to people we may not normally have the opportunity to be in contact with. But in one way or another, it can help us to behave as someone we are not, but who we want to appear to be.

I'm not trying to write this as though I know the answers to everything. I'm not trying to sound conceited or off my rocker-- just sharing a theory. It's a possibility in online behavior, which is why I try to keep this blog open, honest and real. That being said, this isn't the first draft of this blog.

That being said, cue standing ovation now.

*that's a joke...*

That being said... Cue laughter now.