Social Networking is a Life’s Highlight Reel, Not the Whole Story

What impression do you get of others from their Social Networking profiles? Is it simply their life’s highlight reel?

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I tweet about the IT industry at all times of day and night, get to enjoy playing with a lot of cool geeky gadgets, and haven’t won a game of Words with Friends in months. Some of that is definitely true.

If we’re close enough to be friends on Facebook, you’ll know that I always have a roaring good time with my vast circle of close friends, who, incidentally, are fabulous. I travel the world, visiting fantastic places, eating good food, and hob-nobbing with some of the most intelligent, beautiful and amazing people. There’s some truth in there too, and I’ll leave you to decide which.

Typically, most of us only post the cool and exciting to our Social Networking accounts. It’s understandable. Why would we post the boring or the mundane? That’s not what we want to be noticed for.

Social Networking is a Life’s Highlight Reel

I’m just like most people on Social Networking sites. If I travel somewhere cool — I’ll share it. If I’m enjoying a good time with great friends — I’ll share it. That recent Friday night when I sat at home feeling utterly miserable and attractively stuffing my face with Pizza? Not shared so much.

Yet despite this, we find ourselves comparing our lives to the highlight reel’s we see on Social Networking profiles. It’s an unfair comparison.

I caught up with some very old friends of mine recently, and we got talking about Facebook. My one friend shared with me “Sometimes, I look at your Facebook profile and all the cool stuff you’re doing, and I laugh!”. “Why?” I asked. “Well… because it’s you!”.

What I understood my friend meant is that having known me for so long, she found it funny reading my Facebook profile — my highlight reel — which didn’t reflect my true life with all it’s lumps and bumps, up’s and down’s.

Comparing Lives Through Social Networking

The danger here of course, is that as the majority of us are all connected on social networking sites to people we actually don’t know that well at all — think work colleagues, business contacts and acquaintances — is that it’s then easy to look at their social networking updates and think that everyone but you is experiencing the most amazing lives! Why am I not skydiving every weekend? Does everybody drive fast cars for fun? Am I the only one who isn’t travelling the world?

I think comparing who we are and what we do to others is unhealthy at the best of times. Social Networking sites make it dangerously easy to make that comparison more readily.

After all, very few of us post too much to Social Networking about the challenges we have, the heartache or frustration we experience, or the hard work we’ve put in to achieving anything. We typically only post the good bits. The bits we are proud of. In effect, we post our life’s “highlight reel”.

Struggle with Insecurity

The Pastor Steven Furtick posted a very astute update to Twitter last year. He said “One reason we struggle with insecurity is that we’re comparing our behind the scenes to every else’s highlight reel”.

Comparing your own all encompassing view of your own life with the highlight reel of some else’s life can create insecurities. It can also create resentment. It shouldn’t, but it’s human nature.

It’s a lot like visiting a party. You scrub up. You wear your nicest clothes that make you look the best. During small talk with others you share the cool things that are happening in your life. You accentuate all the good bits about you – and understandably so. It’s the stuff you’re proud of and want to share.

But reality may be different. Few amongst us want to highlight the stuff we’ve failed at, or the mistakes we’ve made, or the disappointments we’ve experienced.

It’s worth remembering that.

Conclusion

So the next time you are a little low, and become irritated by another super-cool picture or super positive update from a Facebook friend, just remember that you’re seeing their highlight reel. There is absolutely, positively (no two-ways-around it) also stuff happening behind the scenes to that person too that more than likely mirror the struggles everyone else has or will experience.

Comparing your life to the highlights you glean of others lives on Social Networking sites is an inaccurate comparison. Always remember that Social Networking is a life’s highlight reel, not the whole story.

 

photo credit: s_falkow via photo pin cc

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