As I sat down in front of my computer, with the intent of writing my midterm paper, an all too familiar thought entered my mind. I have plenty of time to write – let me quickly check Facebook before I begin. 'Quickly checking Facebook' started with some mindless scrolling, and eventually led to my stalking nearly sixty people I barely know. An interesting phenomenon occurred as I was trailing down each of their profiles - each seemed to lead a life that was infinitely more exciting than mine. After speaking to individuals of all ages who have grown up in the Age of Facebook as well, I am confident that many, if not all, have had this exact same experience. Many of us are hopelessly addicted to the intoxicating allure of knowing what our friends are up to - so much so that social media sites, such as Facebook, are the first things we check when we wake up, as well as the last thing we check before going to sleep. As Jillian, my roommate who goes to sleep and wakes up at the same time as me every single night and morning, confessed to being a perpetrator of as well as me observing it first hand before even having to be asked.
It is completely understood why Facebook has become what many like to call an 'obsession,' or the reason young teenagers along with the older generations are so to speak "glued" to their technological devices. My own fifty-year-old mother admits to feeling the social need to post pictures on the daily - using every birthday, event, or national holiday as the perfect excuse – alongside my father who likes to believe he is not an 'avid' Facebook goer when in fact he most definitely is. Furthermore, after taking a break from the usual Facebook futility I waste hours upon hours of my day with, I signed on to my Facebook account just as I do numerous times a day but this time for a different purpose. .
I observed and analyzed behaviors and actions in which the notion of dwindling confidence can be detected through close friends pages, photos, and comments that I can see differentiate from their day-to-day social platform persona to their day-to-day "offline" persona.
