--
If someone was asked what comes to mind when they think about social media, they might say 'Selfies.' These are rarely pictures that people just take and then share; they are pictures that are usually altered so that they look right and after this has taken place, they are shared with their 'friends.'The point of focus is not on simply taking pictures; it is for one to 'look right.' It then doesn't matter how they feel or whether the image reflects their current experience, what matters is that one creates the right impression.
Eating a Meal
Another way of looking at this would be to imagine that one is eating a meal and this is not something they enjoy eating, it is something that they don't like. The normal response would be for one to show how much they don't like it through their facial expression and then to stop eating it.
If, on the other hand, one continued to eat it and pretended that they were enjoying it, they would be going against themselves. This would show that one is more concerned about gaining others approval then they are with eating something they enjoy.
Point Of Focus
It could be said that when one is not going against themselves when they take a selfie and that when they eat something they don't enjoy, they are. However, it is not so much about one going against themselves as it is about one ignoring what is taking place within them.
Being approved of by others is then one's highest priority, and this means that their needs will be secondary. It could be said one is taking care of their needs by being approved of by others and it will take care of certain needs, but it is also going to mean that one has to ignore certain needs.
Conditional
The feedback that one receives is the result of them fulfilling certain conditions and unless one fulfils these conditions, the positive feedback will soon come to an end. One is then receiving approval for the image that they present to the world and the person behind the image is then nowhere to be seen.
One is then receiving approval and this will enable them to feel good but at the same time, it is not for who they are, it is for what they do. This means that one is not just being objectified by others, they are objectifying themselves.
Feelings
One's feelings are then put to one side and the only thing that matters is how one comes across to others. As one is likely to be disconnected from how they feel, they might not realise that there is another way to live.
And that one doesn't need to constantly seek approval from others and to be who others want them to be. That it is possible for one to feel good without the approval of everyone they meet and how one's worth is not defined by others.
