(ThyBlackMan.com) Just in case the New Year wasn’t a good enough reason to inspire reflection, Facebook launched its new Look Back feature earlier this week (FB Look Back). The compilation celebrates FB’s 10-year anniversary and provides users with a video summary of their life so far on Facebook. It’s ready to view and contains 10 or 15 of your most-liked photos, statuses, life events, and comments, all set to music. The show is a pleasing trip down memory lane.
Depending on your level of activity on Facebook, you might think the video is cheesy or sweet…or ratchet. Now, that’s worth some serious reflection. In maintaining a regular interaction with friends, the documentation of our lives should send a powerful message.
Check out your video. Were there celebrations of achievement and success? Did your time on FB demonstrate your growth, your worth, your reach? Did your movie pay homage to those you have loved, missed, and shared? Was your video a monument to the newness of life through weddings, graduations, or births?
There is another side to this coin. Did your life video replay the times you used your page to target, tear down, and wallow in the mud of judgment or rage? Were there a few too many selfies of your tatts, your back, or your butt? Was the club frequently the backdrop, being under the influence the constant or the red cup in your hand repeatedly celebrating your good time?
A summary of your life in one minute tells a powerful story. It would resonate who you think you are and how you present those inner thoughts to the world. If your moment in time captures mostly complaints, endless
parties, bloodshot eyes, and drunkenness, it may be time to ask yourself some questions, come to a few realizations. Maybe it’s time to reflect on…dare I say it…your goals in life.
Certainly, social media can be used in a variety of ways. It can demonstrate our consciousness, our awareness of the world around us, the impact we hope to make, or the legacy we want to share with our “friends.” Like many things in life, we are offered the opportunity to choose our perception, whether positive or negative. There are, however, a few glaring situations that should give some of us (or our friends) cause for that needed reflection:
(1) If you must continually remind those on your news feed (remember, they are the friends you chose) that you are a “grown a** man/woman,” that they all should “keep my name outcha mouth,” or how “done” you are with all the “bull**,” then perhaps you should re-evaluate your conflict resolution skills. A raving status update is not the place to remind your baby mamma that she “ain’t sh**.” If, in fact, you are worth anything, then she has already been blocked from your friends list, right?!
(2) If you use social media for a pick me up in order to validate that you is smart, you is kind, and you is important, than a close examination of your self-esteem is in order. Consider spending some time with some real friends, face-to-face. Get off FB and get into a conversation with someone other than yourself.
(3) If you constantly feel the need to report your every move, no matter how mundane, on FB—Good morning FB; Good night FB; I’m on my way to work, FB; Someone lms ijs—then this is a cry for help. You need someone to care, someone to take notice of you. You are searching for a companionship that you are unlikely to find in this manner. But, it’s not too late. Stop hiding behind your status and get involved with those who allow you to be yourself. Back in the day, they used to call them friends but the term is used loosely in these modern times. Trust me, it’s still possible. Don’t be afraid.
(4) If the only thing you have to offer through your status is yet another night preparing for, going to, hanging at, or returning from the club, then consider this one word: Grow!
For those who will argue that their Facebook pages are to be used for purposes they decide, Yes, you are correct. Congratulations. But accept that the look back feature offers each of us a rare glimpse into what is really important to us, not what we say is important to us. I like that the video is assemble for you, not by you. You don’t get to decide what gets included. Like the fallout that comes from our choices, you have to sit back and watch. Hopefully, you will enjoy the ride. If you don’t, now is a good time to change your future videos for the better.
Staff Writer; Jazzie Dixson
This talented sista is a writer from the midwest who writes on a wide range of topics about relationships, including romance, intimacy, communication.
May connect with her via facebook; J. Dixson and also twitter; JD.