We're in the digital age! The most comfortable moment in our history, where authenticity is carefully planned while spontaneity is rehearsed like a Shakespearean monologue. Let's just say that happiness is no longer a state of mind but a public performance with the right to edit.
In this new order, the genuine is meticulously calculated and mixed with plastic naturalness to form what we call the social media feed.
‘We live in a society where simulation precedes and determines the real.’ - Jean Baudrillard.
But calm down, it's not all criticism. We know that, in the midst of the digital stage, there are those who really try to make a difference - yes, they exist, but they are poucos.
The Dance of Fabricated Authenticity
The aesthetic of carelessness requires rigorous planning. It's the same logic as a reality show: spontaneous to a point, scripted to the right degree.
The irony reaches its peak when influencers post ‘real moments’. For example: breakfasts in bed, carefully positioned in the middle of lined sheets and strategically next to flowers or philosophy books (perhaps never read). All of this is done ‘unedited’ but, for some reason, it all follows cinematographic framing and impeccable lighting. The ideal of ‘being real’ has become a new personal marketing goal.
Sartre said ‘Hell is other people’. In the age of social media, hell is other people, yes, but... those with lives that are apparently more perfect than ours. It's hilarious how we all appear to be taking part in an undeclared competition of who can look the happiest, most successful and carefree. But meanwhile, behind the scenes, many are drowning in anxiety and insecurity.
Have we really gained greater freedom of expression with the advent of the web, or have we just become very good at appearing free while the curation of our digital image becomes a new form of slavery?
Ah, it's undeniable how delicious this paradox is. We are encouraged to ‘be ourselves’, but only if that ‘ourselves’ is sufficiently attractive, inspiring and, above all, ‘likeable’.
The Digital Society and its Emotional Currency
In a society of appearances, perfection has become the currency of exchange. The more perfect our lives seem to others, the more valuable we are - regardless of whether or not it's true.
Companies, for example, hire people who radiate positivity, regardless of their actual skills. Digital influencers accumulate followers by showing off ‘film’ lives, even if they are as authentic as a 3 Euro note.
As Oscar Wilde once said: ‘Life is too important to be taken seriously’. And, apparently, too superficial to be lived in depth and away from likes.
The Economics of False Happiness
Let's not be naïve. Behind the façade of constant happiness and perfection lies a well-oiled economic machine. Companies sell us products and services that promise instant happiness. From anti-wrinkle creams (or other substances) that guarantee eternal youth to online courses that ensure success in 10 easy steps. We're all buying into illusions and the main one is that happiness is a product that's just a click away.
To make things more interesting - and more controversial - let's remember that in 1844, Karl Marx warned about the alienation of the worker. Little did he know that, by 2025, we would be alienated not only from the products of our market, but from ourselves. Today, the digital proletariat produces free content for billionaire corporations in exchange for dopamine (here I am, also part of the wheel - but I have my doubts about the dopamine part).
If before we sold our labour power, now we sell our own image.
Jean Baudrillard said that we are living in hyperreality, where it no longer matters what is real, but rather what it appears to be. We are not judged by what we are, but by what we manage to stage for a dispersed audience, whose applause is only silent clicks.
The Philosophy of Appearances
Friedrich Nietzsche said that ‘Convictions are more dangerous enemies of the truth than lies’. Applying this logic, our conviction in the need to appear happy is more harmful than unhappiness itself.
We are obsessed with showing off a cheerful façade and forget to question what really makes us happy. We've become prisoners of an image that we ourselves have created - and by whose influence?
If Michel Foucault taught us that power manifests itself through the disciplining gaze, then social networks are the new panopticons. Surveillance no longer comes from a central tower, but from the desire to be seen and approved of. And the need to appear spontaneous becomes a new type of social discipline, where everyone watches themselves and adjusts so as not to appear forced in the search for naturalness.
Shopenhauer, who saw life as an eternal frustration of desires, would have an existential crisis when he saw that we now want to be spontaneous and, in order to do so, we follow invisible rules of engagement and personal branding. Our ‘will to live’ has been replaced by an algorithm that dictates which types of performed authenticity are best accepted.
Narciso Updated: Version 5G
The Myth of Narcissus has never been so up-to-date. But instead of a crystal-clear lake, we contemplate ourselves in the filtered reflections of the feed. The original tragedy remains: we were only supposed to love our image, but we end up consumed by it. Freud would call it a modern form of neurosis, while Nietzsche would probably laugh in our faces and say that we're just slaves to a new god: other people's opinions.
And if you think the solution is simply to ‘switch off the Wi-Fi’, remember that human anguish didn't start with social networks - it was (and still is) used by them. Pascal already said: ‘All the unhappiness of men comes from one thing alone: being unable to remain alone in their rooms.’ Wi-Fi or not, we're still desperate for meaning.
The Psychology of Like
B. F. Skinner, the father of behaviourism, would be fascinated by social networks. They are the perfect experiment in intermittent reinforcement: you post a photo and, if the likes come in floods, you feel a surge of pleasure. If they're scarce, we suffer a mild withdrawal. The cycle begins again. And who controls the reinforcements? The algorithm.
Meanwhile, Carl Jung would roll his eyes and say: ‘You are not what others think of you.’. But who cares about Jung when engagement is below average?
The Quest for Perfect Imperfection
And here comes a new trend: the quest for perfect imperfection. Yes, you read that right. Now, being authentic means showing ‘your flaws’... but only the pretty ones, of course. A coffee stain on your white shirt? Charming. Dark circles after a bad night's sleep? A sign of a busy and interesting life. A celebrity with cellulite? Wow, she's just like us! What a symbol of empowerment and militancy.
As the philosopher Slavoj Žižek would say, ‘The truly free choice is the one in which I don't just choose between two or more options, but choose to change the set of choices itself’. In the context of social media, this could mean choosing not just between posting the perfect photo or the ‘authentically imperfect’ photo, but questioning the very need to post.
The Algorithm as the New God
In this new digital pantheon, the algorithm reigns supreme. It is the modern oracle, deciding what we will see, what we will enjoy and, consequently, who we will be. We sacrifice our privacy, our time and often our mental health on the altar of this binary god, waiting for its blessings in the form of likes, shares and followers.
The Irony of Connection in the Age of Loneliness
We're more connected than ever and yet the loneliness epidemic is growing every day. It's as if we were all shouting in a room full of people, but no one was really listening. We post, we like, we comment, but how many of these interactions are truly meaningful?
The philosopher Hannah Arendt once said that ‘Organised loneliness is considerably more dangerous than the disorganised impotence of all the dominated’. Could it be that our carefully curated social networks aren't exactly that - a form of organised loneliness?
The Future of Digital Authenticity
So where do we go from here? Will we continue in this never-ending quest for imperfect perfection, or will we find a way to be truly authentic online?
One possible answer might be: not to look for an answer. In the words of Oscar Wilde: ‘Be yourself, everyone else already exists’. Or at least, let's try to be ourselves without needing three attempts and a saturation adjustment. Let's embrace chaos, imperfection and real vulnerability - not the edited and filtered versions of life. The rebel in this regard would be the one who switches off their mobile phone and goes to live a life that doesn't need to be documented in order to be validated.
Perhaps - and only perhaps - genuine spontaneity lies in the subversive act of not wanting to prove anything to anyone. Or, ironically, in the opposite extreme: assuming that our whole life is a theatre and stop pretending we don't know it. After all, if Shakespeare already said that ‘all the world's a stage...’, why pretend that we're not acting?
Emergency exit?
The aim of this article is not to demonise social networks, but to understand that our self-esteem doesn't have to depend on a volatile number. If Epicurus taught us that true pleasure comes from moderation, perhaps it's time to reprogramme our relationship with digital self-image.
If you've made it this far, congratulations! You've read more than most people can handle without scrolling through their feed.
Conclusion that is not a conclusion
Everyone knows that online naturalness died the day the first selfie was taken for the third time. But that doesn't have to be a problem - as long as we're aware of the game. Pretending to be natural has become art, and like all art, it needs to be appreciated with due irony.
What do you think about this paradox of the perfect online life? Leave a comment, share your experiences and suggestions for topics you'd like to see covered here on the blog. Your opinion is valuable and can help other readers navigate this turbulent sea of networks.
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‘Illusion crumbles when we question reality.’ - UN4RT
Yes, yes... the sources, references and inspirations are there, there's no need to be spoilt!
From personal experience, my relationship with social media has always been ‘8 or 80’, I either posted a lot or nothing at all. I've even created accounts and then deleted them - quite a few times - and I've lost count of the number of posts I've made and also deleted. For a while, I was deeply repulsed by everything I saw there. I often judged users harshly and disrespectfully. Today - in addition to the opinion you read above - I also have the understanding that everyone is free to do whatever the fuck they want - including me. So go ahead and be happy without giving anyone a hard time.
Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation.
Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness and Nausea.
Oscar Wilde, Phrases and Aphorisms.
Karl Marx, Economic-Philosophical Manuscripts.
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Gaia Science and Human, All Too Human.
Michel Foucault, Surveillance and Punishment.
Arthur Shopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation.
Myth of Narcissus, in Greek mythology, was a young man of extreme beauty who despised those who fell in love with him. As punishment, the gods made him fall in love with his own image reflected in the water. Unable to move away from the water, he withered to death, and in the place of his body was born the flower that bears his name.
Sigmund Freud, Malaise in Civilisation.
Blaise Pascal, Thoughts.
B. F. Skinner, Science and Human Behaviour.
Carl Gustav Jung, The Self and the Unconscious.
Slavoj Žižek, the phrase mentioned in the text does not come from a specific work, but encapsulates recurring themes in the philosopher's work relating to freedom, choice and the transformation of existing conditions.
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism.
William Shakespeare, As You Like It.
Epicurus, Letter to Meneceus.
Tristan Harris, The Dilemma of Networks.
Eli Pariser, The Invisible Filter.
Nir Eyal, Indistractible.
Giuliano da Empoli, The Engineers of Chaos.
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