nostalgia being

Look closer, block the noise out, stay focused and grounded. You will be able to savour the beauty.

Perhaps it's because they are distant, or because numbers are neutral and abstract. We have grown accustomed to depicting lives as numbers. We have become desensitized.

Deaths due to unnecessary causes, such as preventable diseases, man-made disasters and war. They make up the numbers which we gloss over without giving much thought.

What's a million lives? Behind the statistics, they are loved ones, they are irretrievable memories, they are lost futures.

But you thought the purpose of your existence is just to contrast the good apples, and then your fate is to be thrown to the dumpster?

Wrong. You are versatile. You exist for a reason. And that's why even if people don't pick you to consume directly, they will still consume you as an apply juice. Everyone has a purpose in life, sometimes you just have to change your perspective.

(Ps. I have never used bulbasaur as a starter before)

Exactly 20 years ago, the pioneers of social media platforms - chief being Friendster and MySpace - were launched. With the advent of Facebook, the rest is history.

Within a short span, social media has successfully altered the world completely, for better or for worse. What started off as a social networking site, a medium (media) for social activities, derailed to being a consumerist and capitalist pursuit, depending on who you are.

In terms of individual psyche, social media has led to two consequences: the masking of social reality and self, and constant surveillance, judging and comparison. These two are mutually reinforcing.

Charles Horton Cooley, prominent Sociologist, coined the term "the looking-glass self", to understand how one constructs his own selfhood in people's interactions. The three main ideas of looking-glass self is:

we imagine how we look to others -> we imagine how others think and react towards us -> we then react to that imagination and develop our sense of self

I am not here to lecture on the ill effects of social media, or on sociology 101. The point I want to make here is that, we have co-opted social media as a façade, or a mask, and that mask becomes reality.

Humans have a tendency to share, and that's completely fine, that's human inherent nature, the desire for solidarity and social interactions. It goes without saying that social media has facilitated instant and constant sharing.

But what has become an ill, is comparison with peers in social media. Whatever people post in social media, photos and words are chosen carefully, edited with pride and posted with purpose. They almost always show the best / positive side of the story, while covering up reality. And when people see it, they consume as though that's reality. Peers enter a contest of popularity - who has the prettier photos, the higher number of likes, and the greater recognition through comments.

Putting aside the fact that social media has indeed contributed to rising mental health issues amongst youths due to feelings of inadequacy and jealousy, social media has also driven people to be less authentic and genuine. What is not being said, matters more than what is being said; and what constitutes as a façade, has become representations of reality. There are not just protocols, norms and mores in interacting with people physically, they have crept into people's private lives, intensifying the need to "put on a mask" constantly.

This era is defined by technology, interconnectedness and speed, there is no hiding from it. But with greater interconnection, I feel comes with greater disconnectedness. Disconnect from one another, disconnect from realities, disconnect from meaning.

Is it wishful thinking to want to go back to simple times - where social media serve its raison d'être? And can people ever be authentic behind a screen now?

a decade | ten years

The last time I actively used Tumblr was during 2013-2014. As a "new teenager" who sought to use all social media platforms available. WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, Pinterest - you name it.

But Tumblr was quite short-lived; less than half a year and I stopped using. Nothing interesting.

10 years later now, the world changed drastically, and of course I "evolved" a lot too. From somebody fresh in high school, to preparing to step into society as a fresh graduate soon.

I have always loved to write and talk - to express and share everything. And there is no shortage of social media to do it, particularly Instagram and Tiktok (which I don't use btw).

But at this age, I guess I just want to share things without having to care about protocol, about societal norms and mores. And now having a platform such as Tumblr, with practically no friends using, provides a safe space. A space where I can genuinely be myself more.