To seal or not to seal. - Social Media Special.

After a lovely holiday recently I had one of my colleagues come up to me and say, "Hey, I hope you had a good holiday. You didn't post any pictures online so I was worried."
I thought in my mind: does it mean that I have to post happy holiday pictures to prove that I had a good time? 

A dear friend of mine is a frequent vacationer and probably has those conventional pictures from all the exotic and unconventional places she visits. Cumulatively it turns out to be great content for social media. The trick to her happiness however being, she never posts it anywhere. No Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp or Twitter validation of her happy life. The pictures she clicks are for herself, she says. Not for the world. She is in no hurry to show people that she is having a good time. 

Apart from being inspired by this, it got me thinking about the judgemental side of those looking at the pictures. For example, one intrusive lady I know had the opinion that I had started dressing up extremely well and having a lot of fun "lately". When in fact, I was always out there doing the exact same things and probably putting in equal amount of efforts in myself, for as long as I can remember.

The mere fact that anyone's social media activity makes other people think that they are having a good time, or otherwise, is so bizarre. The horrible assumption that before I posted anything online I must have led an uneventful life. Or that just because I do, makes me the happiest person on the planet. Oh, what a shallow thought process! Like guessing what's inside a box just by looking at the gift wrapping. 

Sometimes you like to keep things private and confidential & only the ones you meet regularly know what you are up to. And sometimes we all may have felt the need to be out there depending on the free time we have and the willingness to share anything with the world. 
But social media is not a window to anyone's soul. And it's a shame that some people think it is that. As if it's that easy to know someone entirely. 

I think it's high time we take social media for what it is. Entertainment. Communication. And probably a daily dose of validation. Let's not sit and judge anyone or anybody. 

Cheers to the ones who can still have a great time without wanting to post about it. Hats off to those who don't judge either way! 

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