Deception in Your Reflection

By Lois Marcelle Rosario 

“Love me, love me, say that you love me.” That is like the message that selfies uploaded in facebook and twitter conveys. Most of the female population thinks that selfies would make them gorgeous, fashionable and stylish. Though, it makes people look unsophisticated, conceited and crude.  I feel disdain towards people who does embarrassing poses for the sake of fame and affection and those who expose their vanity to the whole world. I wish that these people realize that what they are doing is silliness. Nonetheless, I feel no animosity to people who display their portraits with a smile that shines brighter than the sun, just those who puckers up for the camera.

       Photography is supposed to catch and capture the genuine emotion a person feels in a certain moment. To feel nostalgia and to reminiscence the past while gazing at it, whether it is a poignant or a jovial memory or something worthwhile. But today it is used as a memento of a temporary happiness or used as an object to seize attention, to create attraction and start idolatry among the peers in the social networking websites.

       Selfie does not foster self-confidence and self-esteem in oneself, rather it helps develop narcissism, self-centeredness and arrogance. To those who don’t take selfies, insecurity and low self-esteem, jealousy towards people who is a pro at taking selfies. Selfie makes people egoistic and self-absorbed in personal appearance. Too engrossed making oneself appealing to not to care other people’s opinions. Usually the ones who have thousands of friends in facebook are the ones who regularly post embarrassing selfies, the ones who have hundreds of likes in their photos. And once a person receives fondness through likes, that person becomes too overconfident, that person feels everyone knows him/her, assuming that everyone admires him/her, and it’s just because of a single photo taken and uploaded in a social networking website. And once the head becomes too big, it would be filled of crude intentions in which leads to whimsicality and doing unsophisticated behaviors, especially in public.

       According to Dr. David Houghton, those who frequently post photographs on Facebook risk damaging real life relationships. Why so? Because everyone has their own point of view and the information we share online are seen by different people in different views, so it just means that we should be cautious on what we share online, on what information we should publicize in the internet because everything we say and we do would be criticized. After all, the internet is filled with critiques ready to throw harsh judgments.

       Not only that, but because of technology, people depend on talking or socializing with people without seeing them. Because of this, there will be no friendship to develop despite of constant chats and talks. A rapport would only develop between two people if they decide to hang out and converse personally. When you chat with someone online can you sense the honesty of the person? No, you couldn’t. You wouldn’t feel the sincerity of the person at all. There are possibilities that the person you are conversing to is lying. There is  a chance that a compliment you have received is a lie. It could only be a talk without sincerity, just to please you.

       Despite the fact that Selfie is self-exploration and expression, it is still not courteous to publish it where many people can see it. If you want to experiment, to know and understand yourself more, then do it in private. Take it like acting classes, some actors study first in a university before launching their career, it is the same for exposing selfies. Before you publish it in the internet, perceive it if is appropriate and pleasant.

       For me our quirkiness, peculiarity and weirdness should be kept hidden, cherished secretly and not shared to all.  Our whims, quirks and notions should only be done in private, only to be known by ourselves and by people who we are close to us. Close enough to understand our whimsicality. For if we disclose things without second thoughts, we get to suffer the consequences, not only us but even the people who are related to us. Think about your family, particularly your parents. Would you like to see your mother weeping because of what the people says about you? No mother would ever want her daughter to be called a harlot or other insults. Bear in mind that every action we take reflects on our parents, because we are what they are.

       Besides memories and the past should be treasured, to learn from not to broadcasted to everyone. Have you not noticed that the things that become mainstream lose their sentimental value? They were looked upon because they became trends and it’s what people like.  Take into consideration that a thing’s value is the most important. Remember, it is just a trend, it would pass. Wouldn’t it be a great feeling to be called classy or referred to as timeless and classic?