Friday 26 September 2014

You're P.P

  Few years ago, when someone asked you for contacts, they would ask for your phone number and to get friendly faster they would ask for your Facebook name. It was such an embarrassing duration when your friend's FB name was "Toto Mimi Cool." By time – or to be more accurate: when 25th of January 2011 hit – everybody started to write status to document their opinions, not to share how they feel anymore; so they cared to write their real names….. Copyrights, you know! Afterwards everybody got tired of FB, and Twitter was declared as "the social media restricted to cool folks." That was how far you were exposed to the world, yet faceless.


  As more events occurred, Twitter started to be a live broadcast in simple sentences while FB was where you set your conclusions and visions. In a blink of an eye, social media became a state of free journalism – and by "free" I mean no financial cost. Twitter: you choose a cool fictional name and put up your FB link in the description which has your real name, just to seem professionally awesome. Now, we may say the majority of the society have FB accounts, and some have your name and your last name. That point when you realize there are many people out there. Too many people, that there is a probability that someone shares your full name, but with different features and of course different life events. Subsequently, you're not asked for your FB name anymore. You're asked if you upload your picture like norms, or you upload your favorite actress', cartoon character's picture like……. insecure kids. That was how far you were exposed to the world, hesitant about publishing your face.

  Uploading your picture used to need your parents consent. Don't dare to deny it, please. Especially if you are a girl. When you asked to put up your school yearbook picture in which you looked young and plainly innocent with your uniform (no sexism at all), they would give you the worst ideas for long-lasting nightmares. "They will crop your beautiful face and put it on a naked body!" That was how far you were exposed with fear deep inside.

  We -girls- will never get it why you should shame a girl if a picture of her is apparently photo-shopped and made by someone who wants to condemn God's desire to create her as a girl. Reminder: A girl is human who "needs" to use technology as much as you "want;" so you have no right to limit her internet usage.

  Aside the assumptions, we don't have those questions anymore. Or I may subside "we" and talk on personal perspective: Girls don't fear using their actual pictures anymore. Brave? Cool. But where's courage in posting a picture of me in hot shorts and cropped tee? I have friends who would understand freedom? Awesome. The thing is, girls pose as if they were models. They all wanna be one! But if you afford them the job, they will call it off immediately. So why do they do it? To gain confidence? Why would she post it public? She set it private? Still it is shown, you know! It's not because you can't zoom in, it is called "private." I believe in personal preferences and I judge no one. My point here is, when did girls become so comfortable with limitless exposure? I am just asking when and why. I am not disrespecting them. I am searching for answers.

  Basically, the picture thing isn't about girls only. Guys too! They favor their shirtless pictures or that sweaty shot at the gym. I don't know if this work out for them to be admired by a girl because of his picture. A picture! Some say "to win those abs you work freakishly hard, don't mock that!" I am not mocking and it doesn't make any difference with me anyway. The point is guys now care about their appearances and if they look cool in that filter or not, like their profile picture shouldn't be their priority, right?
That's when we hit the core: We're entirely exposed and some of us break the barriers, because they just feel happy to say where they are, what they are eating and with whom they are enjoying the day and they MUST prove it with a picture.

  Away from genders, when did this flip happen? When did everybody feel so comfortable to post MANY pictures of them? Why did we fear that before? Everything has consequences, where are the consequences of oh-I-love-how-I-look-let's-post-it-and-let-haters-hate? What is the importance in that to be a priority or phenomenon or I may call it epidemic? It's good to see your colleagues fresh and pretty, but what about this hurting them in the future? What about the spectrum of exposure? Shouldn't it be in consideration?
Why? What? She? He? Fear? Hack? Technology? Judgment? Society? So….. who's first, the chicken or the egg?

  The fact is: whether you're a girl or a guy, you're not on social media because you are who you're. It is not because you are grateful to have a life which offers extra time to post about it. You're not a private property! You don't own yourself. You can't stop announcing your thoughts now – you might explode if you didn't. We're manipulated through it all. We were driven to addict typing than talking. To confess without waiting for an agent to question us. Your brain is a public property. So the words are not yours? The name is owned by million others? So what about the face? You can't switch it with another's. You thought P.P is for "profile picture"? Well, I think it stands for "public property." Yes, you can stop it and sign out, but that whole world you live in is based on using social media which isn't entirely ugly; sometimes your source of inspiration or support you need is found there, but that's not promised for a long duration. Such a beautiful trap, isn't it? Let's face it! You are a public property. We are a public property. Our features, thoughts, friends, clothes, moves, where we go and what we study; we all are network's property. We're P.P. You're P.P.