www.HeyLookAtUs.com

Note to my generation: this exhibitionism has gone too far. On Facebook, we share personal details with hundreds (or thousands) of "friends." By simply logging on to my Facebook home page, I can see where you went last night, what group of friends you were with, what shirt you were wearing, and what you drunkenly wrote on that cute guy's Facebook wall. With Twitter, it's possible to sign up to receive a text message any time someone you are "following" posts a status update. Imagine--instantaneous text message notifications that friends or acquaintances are making a sandwich, baking brownies, or watching a funny video. On YouTube, you can post embarrassing videos of yourself for others to watch, ridicule, and comment on.

What next?

I would hardly call myself an exception. I use Facebook, I have a Twitter account (although I'm not clear on exactly how it works), and I watch videos on YouTube. As an eighteen-year-old college student in America, social networking sites are a very ingrained aspect of my social existence. Berger and Luckmann famously explain in "The Social Construction of Reality" the ways that social constructs become habitualized and institutionalized. We, the members of society, then perceive and accept the social construct as a sort of objective reality--as if it is something that simply exists as part of reality, forgetting that it was in fact created by us. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube--all of these are social constructs. My friends and I often have conversations about the absurdity of it, but we make no attempts to change any of it. It would be a huge, almost impossible, project. In fact, I'm not even sure how or where to start such a project.

If I didn't have a Facebook account, I would be missing out on receiving a shockingly large amount of information. Party invitations are increasingly sent out over Facebook; plans are made via posts on friends' digital "walls," and photos are posted from last night's party, or last year's prom, or from that one day when you looked so awful, and why on earth did so-and-so think it would be a good idea to post those pictures on the internet where anyone could see them? I understand what drives today's teenagers and young adults to grab on to these exhibitionist phenomena. Teenagers are endlessly seeking approval and validation, and feeling included and a part of a social world is of paramount importance. But there is such a thing as too much.

Recently, one of my friends showed me a video on YouTube called "Scarlet Takes a Tumble." The video, originally posted by Scarlet and since re-posted by numerous others, has had several million online views. Scarlet begins the minute and a half long video by singing a song and putting on a pair of wedge heels. She then, still singing, climbs up onto a small, round table. Then, in the moment that gives the video its name, Scarlet takes an accidental tumble. She takes a step forward, the table tips over, and Scarlet flips backwards on top of it. She lies on the floor for a while, grabbing her behind, seemingly unable to get up.

This video has become something of an online sensation. Many people have since posted "reaction videos" videotaping their responses to seeing Scarlet take a tumble. The video has entertainment value. There is, of course, the schadenfreude aspect. But what I don't understand is this: why did Scarlet post the video in the first place? Sure, it's funny, but it's also highly embarrassing. Scarlet has attracted a great deal of attention to herself, but very little, if any, of the attention is positive. Many of the comments on YouTube are insulting, unflattering or mean.

Does Scarlet really believe that any attention is good attention? And, moreover, is Scarlet's video an indication of a greater trend among today's youth? And, if this is the slope we're traveling on, what's next? I'm terrified to find out. What will happen when the members of my generation begin running for public office? Thanks to the internet, thanks to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and the like, the wealth of information is great. Those embarrassing moments of our youth will not be so easily forgotten.

Comments

[Grulg]

The same reason people post on Huffington Post. To bloviate and conversate online w/ total strangers. Period. So?

[Hondo79]

I believe that facebook and twitter are just more evidence of a decline of our basic moral and human core. The average american teenager would continue to use cellphones and logging unto youtube even if it meant that a child in central america was shot dead every time he used it. Our society has lost their human self and become androids in the persuit of instatnt gratification and luxury.

The answer is to use these technologies to perform positive deeds that will enlighten and not overshadow us.

[dugum]

Facebook and all peoples' fascination that so many peeps know them. So many Facebook profiles that have 700-800 friends. Can all of them legitimate? Societies need to be social is more apparent than in the past due to technology catering this need. The internet has been a provider or harbringer to satisfy and nurture a population's desire to interact. Yes, there are privacy issues and new reasons for conspiracy but the faith that a balance will be inducted in this evolution is what will influence the outcome.

[idealisticNM]

"My friends and I often have conversations about the absurdity of it, but we make no attempts to change any of it. It would be a huge, almost impossible, project. In fact, I'm not even sure how or where to start such a project."

um, how about NOT MAINTAINING/ POSTING TO ONE OF THESE SOCIAL SITES ?

I do not have any of these "social networking sites". I am not missing out on anything. I prefer to network face-to-face, or phone-to-phone, etc. The idea that these sites are an essential "integration" in one's life is what is truly absurd. Just another socially isolating activity (if one lets it, of course), a worrisome trend in this generation.

[pavementfan]

"As an eighteen-year-old college student in America, social networking sites are a very ingrained aspect of my social existence.­"

There's something gramatically troubling about this sentence, but I can't say for sure. Anyone else?

[IowaGirl]

Yes--it's a dangling modifier. The first phrase describes the writer, not "social networking sites." The very first word after the modifying phrase should be "I."

"As an 18-year-old college student in America, I know/believe (etc.)..."

[Wendy Johnson]

It is clumsily phrased (although grammatically correct). "I am an eighteen-year-old college student in America; social networking sites are a very ingrained aspect of my social existence" would have been better phrasing.

[butofcourse]

What a literate, well-spoken young woman. Bravo for taking a critical eye to the social-networking phenomenon.

[RobinSeattle]

I grok that Facebook has beneficial uses now and again for its users, but I am interested in two questions:

One, why did you feel you needed it? Is it a chance at validation by hoping to receive positive comments about your looks or talents? Is it because everybody else is doing it and you didn't want to be seen as uncool if you didn't use it? Is it just a utilitarian thing? If you use social networking sites is it a sign of a desperate insecurity? What is it?

Two, if you decided to abandon it tomorrow would you miss it and would it sabotage your social life? I think the likely answer to both parts of that question is no.

As for the video you described, I've seen other videos like it on You Tube, big wastes of bandwidth they are. It's just a cry for attention and often really, really dopey ones.

[dreadylocks]

You don't grok facebook. Wait for fullness.

Thou art god.

[Marco]

You seem to have many questions but it could also be you're just trying to draw attention to yourself. Establishing an account on a site such as HuffingtonPost.com isn't that far away from any of the current social networking sites.

Grok.

[DennyCrane]

Oh please. There's a huge difference. Creating an account on HuffPo doesn't allow you to do much beyond add comments. There's nothing narcissist about that since any comment you write is likely to get lost among the hundreds that are written by other readers. But joining Facebook, posting stuff about yourself, and informing your "friends" of every little think happening in your life is a cry for attention.

[jennbeez]

The internet explains all. There is a site at www.grok.com that exists purely to inform the uninformed of the meaning of grok:

grok: /grok/, var. /grohk/ vt. [from the novel "Stranger in a Strange Land", by Robert A. Heinlein, where it is a Martian word meaning literally `to drink' and metaphorically `to be one with'] The emphatic form is `grok in fullness'. 1. To understand, usually in a global sense. Connotes intimate and exhaustive knowledge.

[VoteforPedro]

Why did she do it? For a good shot at a job on TV. This could get her a gig on The View.

[RealityBaseCamp]

Hmmm . . . I wonder if more slapstick would help The View?