To Pic or not to Pic - About Me or Memorials

    So as of writing this, everyone has been dealing with the coronavirus in many different ways; these ways can either be productive like exercising or not so productive like stuffing your face full of junk food. One commonality it seems that we share though is the use of social media. Though everyone might use it a different type of way (just scrolling, posting, keeping up with friends, etc), it is clear that many are turning to these platforms as restrictions and social distancing continue to be set in place.

 Who are we Posting for?

   As we think about social media, we must realize that we post so much content that we forget who might be looking at it and what we are posting. There is a question of whether we are conceded in our social media ventures as it is all centered around well... you! Think about it for a second, even if you do not post about yourself directly or post pictures with you in it, you are still posting about your adventures, what you like, what you find funny, what you agree or disagree with, etc. All of this culminates into who you are, or at least, whatever you select to post on social media. With that said, it should be a no-brainer as to how selfish social media is right? After all, if it just about your interests and desires it is to be it would seem. However, the social media rabbit hole goes a bit deeper than that when we realize that social media expands the idea that we use to memorialize beloved memories and the ones that we love so that we can cherish them even past death.

I had to have a bad dad pun in here somewhere - Meme from starecat.com

 The "Good Times"

    Sorry if I brought the atmosphere down a notch from my usual snide and facetious humor. We must examine the usage of social media and how it can be used to potentially debunk the myth that social media is fully about you and your selfish desire though. First off, we must realize that we are documenting essentially history and capturing people at a certain moment to create a snapshot of their lives during that time period. I am sure you can go through your camera and social media posts and find some friends who you used to know fairly well back in school or work, but now you are not nearly as close to them anymore so you use these photos to reminisce and think about the "good times" as we often think (though, this is often clouded by nostalgia, but still a good feeling nonetheless). If we dive deeper though, we can see that we also passively document our memories with people to remember them even past death. Death is obviously a hard topic to discuss, so much so that even the thought of seeing someone dead or hearing of someone's passing makes people uncomfortable. As Lee Humphreys, tells us in her book, The Qualified Self, "by the mid-twentieth century, memorial photography was taboo" but she also describes a turnaround as it is now standard to "offer professional photography and footprinting in situations of perinatal death (a child who comes out stillborn)" (Humphreys, pg. 79). This is quite grim to even imagine, but it does seem that we as a collective society have begun to accept that sharing such a traumatic death is therapeutic and almost necessary to do at this point. At the very least, many people feel as though it is important to notify your audience and followers on social media that a death has occurred in the family.

Jacksepticeye posts about his father's unfortunate passing

Coping with the Death of Loved Ones

    Since my last post was mostly centered around Jacksepticeye, I felt as though this was appropriate to also mention since he made this public information. Everyone copes with their loved one's death differently and as we can see here, Jacksepticeye wanted to inform his followers of what happened but did not want to go into detail about his father's death. Some even take it a bit farther like Scott Simon did as he documented his mother's death in its entirety. As sad as this might be, this was Simon's way of coping with the death of someone very close to him, and many people empathized and related to this raw use of social media posts. In these circumstances, we can see that these posts and use of social media do not come off selfish in terms of the poster expecting some type of clout or for people to put them in the spotlight as they are putting their deceased ones in that spotlight for social media. In a twisted way, some people might make the argument that these posters simply want attention and pity from people, but this is improbable to think about since many of these posts use rhetoric to suggest the unity of another person via familial or friendship type bonds and they use their platforms to express grief for someone they love dearly. This is why you will commonly see people use their own similar stories to relate to people, not to try and one-up them, but because that's how people empathize with others as one of our biggest skills as humans is the use of storytelling. With that in mind, it is not impossible to imagine social media like Facebook as a sort of virtual cemetery. In fact, within about 50 years, dead profiles will soon outnumber ones that are active and alive! Since these numbers are increasing every day, it is imperative that we discuss this issue and address these memorials for our loved ones in a healthy manner.

    Whether we are comfortable with it or not, we know death is inevitable for this physical plane. People are often trying to find many different ways to cope with the loss of their loved ones, some healthy and some of course not so healthy. Social media seems to be a huge outlet for coping and posting about their losses. With the original question in mind, are we selfish on social media? Well, the answer is that it is mixed it seems. We like likes and favorites on pictures of us and want people to pay attention to what matters to us, but there are times like posting about the passing of someone you love where a new community blossoms past the selfish self. We see that with the rising number of dead profiles and with people being more comfortable about posting about death, we invite others into our lives for the purpose of remembering someone we held dearly onto so that they might also be remembered and loved by others because ultimately it is nice to know that others care about someone that you cared about so much.

Feeling Remembrance in our society

You're sitting on your couch on a hot July afternoon, you get a notification from your device. "Look back to a year ago!" it says, you click on the notification for it to reveal a picture of you and your deceased grandfather that you posted in remembrance to his life, it's christmas and you're 6 years old and you simply remember him picking you up and hugging you with love and care. As your brain processes the image, you go through an array of emotions that ultimately leave you devastated.  You are suddenly filled with sadness from such a good memory, but why does one feel sadness from such a good memory? Although many believe that looking at the past serves as a good way to process past tribulations, many struggle to understand why these events occurred in the first place. 

Why do we post?

When posting snapshots that are intended to capture a memory, many believe that it's important to keep their social pages updated in order to create an identity. From the words of Steve Olshansky, when posting online you post pieces of information about you, ranging from publicly available to very private, and it is good to be aware of who is asking for it, why they want it, and how it is and will be used and protected. Its inherently important for people to "capture" the memory when overall happiness is felt, but many forget about the variables imbedded in the picture that can later make it sour (an ex boyfriend, a friend that stabbed you in the back), but sometimes this moment can be a huge event that although sad, needs to be remembered (a death in the family, fetus pictures are taken as well apparently). 

When someone looks at one of your photos, they are able to see something exactly the way you saw it which is a vital piece of information to keep in mind over this new wave of social media with platforms such as Instagram or Pinterest. Prior, snapshots were a more personal take that were meant to have special meaning for memories that were created by the family so they could later show close friends and relatives "hey, look at how happy we were during this time". In The Qualified Self by Lee Humphreys, "Even when photos became less formal and varied their settings in the twentieth century [...] the primary subject did not change much within snapshot photography". 

Nostalgia & Emotion

Researchers believe that Nostalgia has a strong positive effect on mental health, but can also sometimes give us dread rather than comfort. It was actually considered a mental issue when nostalgia caused anxiety, insomnia, and depression in a person. This remembrance can serve as a increase of perception of social support, but it can also be bittersweet if major changes in your life occurred (for the better or for the worst). In our current society, we are faced with the reality that we must document every single event in our lives to be able to recall that they ever happened at all. 

But for many, these memories can cause negative effects on the human mind. As Cory Stieg states, during difficult times, attention to our past can strengthen us by reminding us of how we survived challenges, loss, injury, failure, or misfortune in the past. But many can just be reminded of the trials and tribulations they went through and the negatives more than positive, but this is an example of how looking at back at snapshots can greatly affect our current state. While for many we are simply reminded of a time where we did not think of the future while we took the picture, but as time goes forward many changes occur in ones life, to which they look back and recall their emotional state at the time. 

 

What can we do? 

The best thing we can do is simply change how we think of these past situations (easier said than done), but one must accept that it's impossible to go back in time and change any of the events that occured. Many have a weird way to cope with major events that occured in their life, which in result ends in people's inability to face their demons, and instead bury it amongst files of pictures in social media to remind themselves that they once cared. This behavior can be seen as re-active rather than pro-active, since in the end many instead of trying to solve their issues with simple thought and understanding we tend to deny these problems exist at all. 

In conclusion, Social Media faces people with many reminders of their past that can greatly affect their mood due to its context. How one reacts completely depends on the media and the meaning behind the message, but their mental health can also play a major part in this equation. 

Remember Me: How photos influence generations

 Why do we save pictures? Maybe to relive the memories they hold, to meet a social pressure that's set upon us, or maybe to continue a tradition passed onto us by our family members. Regardless every generation since the invention of the camera has been infatuated with documenting our lives and preserving snapshots of our day-to-day adventures.

Robert Cornelius' Self-Portrait: The First Ever "Selfie" (1839)

In 1839, Philadelphia, PA, chemist and camera enthusiast Robert Cornelius too what is believed to be the first "selfie". He did so "by removing the lens cap and then running into frame where he sat for a minute before covering up the lens again. On the back of the image he wrote "The first light Picture ever taken. 1839." (The Public Domain Review) But one question is why would he take a picture of himself and not of the environment around him? Why even take the picture in the first place?

In our lecture with Dr. Vrooman we dove into this question. Why do we feel the need to document our lives with images? Before photographs we had written documentation of our daily household lives. Then we slowly moved into documenting our household lives through pictures and videos. But in class we barely coved the more morbid topic of unhappy photos.

It may seem understandable to the average person for why we want to keep some of our most happy moments documented, but what about the more depressing? In the book The Qualified Self: Social Media and the Accounting of  Everyday Life, it covered the tough topic of postmortem death. (p. 78) Humphreys covers the idea through different generations and compares the different stigmas about them. In the 19th century it was a common thing to have your deceased infant photographed as if they were sleeping, in order to preserve their life. But, in our current day and age, although some families would like to document this event, the general public may either wish for that to be a private family photo or they may with to mourn with that family.

So, to celebrate a life seems like a justifiable means to document lost loved ones, but what about war? Like Vrooman covered in class, we all have to go through our loved ones belongings to divvy up their photos and belongings amongst the family. Sometimes you may even stumble upon unexpected items.

As we were going through my grandmothers house this past July of 2020, me and my mom found a tiny box that was shoved into the back of her closet. In it we found tiny 4"-5" in. photos of my grandfather standing next to two dead men in the middle of a jungle, somewhere in the pacific islands during WWII. In the moment my mind said COOL!!!, but in thinking about it now, why would he keep these?

Why would he keep a memory that changed him so much? My mom told me he never picked up another gun, not even to hunt, when she was younger. So why keep such a graphic image that hurt him? the only answer I can come up with is to remember.

Just like how Humphreys talks about 9/11. (p. 86) Sometimes we share stories verbally, through text, or just through pictures to remember the significance behind them. For my grandpa is was to remember the pain war caused him and thousands of others around the world. For people who survived 9/11 its to remember loved ones lost, or to remember the feeling of national pride during our lowest point as a country.

Photos bring about remembrance to unite us in commonality. For my generation, we use photos and social media to connect with one another when we aren't allowed to socialize like we used to. 

So why did Robert Cornelius take that "selfie"? To share with generations to come the importance of that event and to connect with others who will follow in his footsteps.

Photos to Re{ME}mber

 Do you ever go anywhere and not see a camera in someones hand taking a picture or video? Within society it has become a norm to always see people or our selfs actively taking photos of something or someone, but why? Where do these photos go after we take them? How many is too much? In what ways will they be used again? 

When I think about myself and taking photos I also try to capture the present rather than living in it but then all those photos pile up and stay on my phone. Big accomplishments are posted on social media but not all the photos that were taken always make it, so where do the others go? They are lost or forgotten about and later get deleted after year and years of not saving or backing up my phone. I think that our generation has grown up in a way that we were always taught/told to take pictures to have the memory last and so that it could be passed on to other generations. Our own selfishness is shown through the amount of pictures that we post to have a better social status than others. Is one perfect picture enough or do you need 10 to show how good of a life you live and your vacation? I personally think that posting more and more photos is in competition with society and to show who is living a better life through their profiles and photos. If they are only used to post and not used for remembering the moment or passing the memory on of loved ones, then why are they being posted. 

I myself only post for the big accomplishments and to have the memories last all the other extra photos that are not needed or take up more time of not living in the present are gone to trash within a couple months they are lucky if they make it a year. 

The Importance of the Photograph?

 Hey Everyone,

In Society today we are taken over by this idea of capturing every moment we have and do in picture form. I don't think you can go anywhere in the world without their being at least someone in the room taking a picture of something, it almost feels like the way we communicate with each other now. Now the saying is true, "a picture says a thousand words" and we are the first hand response to that quote because everything we see and do must be photographed or video taped. We feel as though everyone should see what we are doing or where we are going through our pictures and this is the way to show people our lives. It's almost as though for proof or backup that what we are doing or where we are at is true in that we can show the people we care about or the people that follow you that, yes, I am at this nice place or doing all these fun things and you have to see it. But the question i've always had and thought about is, "does taking pictures of everything you go through or do take away from the moment itself"?

Now don't get me wrong, I think it is extremely important to take pictures of major events or things you know you want to go back and look at. But I feel that we have this sense of if we didn't get it on video or picture it never happened. I come from experience when I say some of the greatest moments I have made in my life have come without any pictures or "proof" of what I did. Going on crazy adventures with the boys or long parked car conversations with a girlfriend, even some family vacations and events there was no pictures taken and I could still tell you everything that happened even without a picture to prove it. I feel like what makes a memory special is when you are so invested in the moment that there is no need or time to stop and take a picture of whatever is going on, you are having so much fun and enjoying yourself that there is no need to stop what is happening for a picture because you know you'll remember it for the rest of your  life. We get so caught up in what social media means to us and how it effects our lives that we feel like we have to share it all with the world, we see that other people post everything they do and see that it almost feels like we have to do the same. Society has this norm set out for us that you have to share what you do and see with the rest of the world for it to matter, when in reality as long as you remember what you did and had fun doing it, who cares what anyone else has to say about it.

Going off that point a little too is why do people care so much about another persons picture of where they are or what they are doing. We talked about in class how people get annoyed when they see someone on vacation and posting pictures of everywhere they are going. Why? We have so much hate and constant criticism in our lives with whatever we do. I have never understood how or why you can hate on so someones success or lifestyle when you are in complete control of your own. If you don't like seeing someone taking pictures of their vacation, well then unfollow them or work hard so that you can one day be able to do the very same thing. The way I look at those things is seeing all the cool places people are at and going and helps me see where I might want to go or be when i'm older which then helps gives me motivation on what I wanna do and where I wanna go. It is all about how you look at things and the way you wanna see it. Social media has fogged our minds with this notion of pictures and how much they mean to us, but like we talked about in class what would happen if you lost all those pictures and never got them back. I bet you would take more time to be in that moment and soak in that memory you are having and enjoy it rather then trying to take a picture to remember it all.

I do think pictures are important and they do help capture amazing moments in our lives that can help us go back and realize the good times in our life. But I think we should really live in the moment and take a step back from the pictures and realize its better to be in the moment and live it then try and capture it and relive it later. Remember that everything you do only happens once and you cant go back when its over, which is why it is so crucial to stop with all the pictures and let your mind be the picture so you can enjoy everything you do in life. 

Are photographs important in social media?

 How do we examine what is a good post towards a bad post? Do you care about how many likes and followers you have on your social media? These are two questions that are very important when regarding social media in today's world. Many people now a days are posting on social media on a daily basis regarding every aspect of their lives, but do their followers really care about what they are posting. Here's an example, a famous person who has million and million of followers on his/her social media, do you really think they care what you have to say in the comments. Well, the truth is, they don't. These people who have millions of followers do not have a direct contact with over 99% of the people who follow them, they don't even know them. So, when this comes to having a social media platform, is it all that important or is it more important to worry about the hand on relationships you have with one another in your personal life. Today, we are going to examine just that. 

First, is social media all that good for your personal life? Well, there is two sides of the spectrum. One is it is good because you are "social media famous and everyone knows you." The other side is, "you care more about personal relationships within your life." Both sides, whichever your on, is fine to be, there is no harm done, but the first side says when your social media famous you have a bunch of friends and everyone loves you. That's not the case, there is haters everywhere with whatever platform you are on. These famous people who go "viral" for doing something crazy or being an athlete have no connections with almost all of their followers. This is the main problem with social media in my opinion, it creates a sense of social status and gives someone a platform when they really haven't done anything in their life. Social media gives people a place where they can go post their opinions on politics or anything they feel the need to do so, when they have no idea what they are talking about. The other side, is the people who really do not use social media on a daily basis or even do not use it at all. These are the people who make real connections by going out and meeting people in person. For example, when someone goes out to the bars or restraunts on a weekend, they go there to meet new people and have a good time. If your trying to meet new people and make real connections online, it is much harder to do. Now a days, it is hard to make these connections in person with this whole pandemic, but there is still lots of ways to do so. 

Next, does it matter how many followers you have and how many likes you get? No, it does not at all. But we are in a day in the age where this is all that matters. The more followers and likes you get, the more popular you are. This is really the world we are living in where social media is bigger than personal connections. How do we conn

Why do you have to pull it out?

    This week we looked at a couple things that I've noticed amongst my friends and generation that I  hadn't exactly realized until we talked about them. We talked on identity work, and remembrancing. We looked at remembrancing, which to me is a mixture of the two words remembering, and reminiscing. Remembering has to do with the account of the memory, when reminiscing is how you felt when thinking of that memory. When a group of people reminisce on their glory days, they are reminded on how they felt being on top (or at least on top in their perspective). Take a football team from the 80's who won the state championship for example. When they get together they are reminiscing over the memory of them being on top, running the school with everyone looking up to them. They remember the memory, but reminisce over the feeling that they might not have ever got to feel again.

    For me, I have never been one to pull my phone out. Do I wish I would have more? Maybe a little bit. But, there's a part in me that thinks that is not exactly healthy. How are you supposed to make memories and enjoy the moment you're in if you are living it through your camera? I can see why people like to pull it out though, because in times of boredom or sadness you always have those good memories to look back on that make life a little better. In chapters 3 & 4, we learned about something called media accounting. This is when you post things to your social media so you can look back on it when accounting for different memories. We must keep a balance for how much we account on our media. Why do you, or in anyone else in that matter care about the grilled cheese you made on October 2nd at 3:13 PM? It's for accounting. It's like a diary, but for everyone else to see. Maybe you made the grilled cheese with a friend who is no longer alive, and that "one year ago today" snapchat reminder helped you remember some more memories about that friend. Last night I had posted for the first time on my snapchat for a while. I went and got some Korean BBQ and wanted people to know, so I posted a quick three second video of me and my buddy cheering some Soju. This was media accounting because I can now look back at that three second video and remember how bad it tore my stomach up the next morning.  

    When it comes to identity work, we all play different roles on social media. When it is our best friends birthday, of course we are going to give them a shoutout or post a couple pictures. We do this because that is our role as a friend. Of course, we don't have to post pictures for every single person we knows' birthday, because in some friendships that is not our role. If we were best friends in elementary and haven't talked since middle school, I wouldn't expect you to post for me. It's not your role. Maybe a nice happy birthday text would suit. Another way we use identity work is through the selfie. If you want to establish a relationship you just developed, what's a better way than posting a selfie to show everyone your new friend? If you just met them five minutes ago then I wouldn't recommend posting a selfie because that is just plain weird. If it's a friend you have known for a little bit, a selfie is a good way to show off your friendship. I know people out there that get offended when they don't get posted on their friends socials. It validates some friendships, which is odd but it makes sense. If you have a friend who is always posting one of your other friends but not you, you're gonna feel a little left out. You might even feel like you are embarrassing to your friend, and them posting you may hurt their social status, or IDENTITY. 

    In conclusion, there a couple of reasons why we have to pull it out. We want to remember the memory, we want to reminisce on the memory, and the memory helps us with our identity. We do this with media accounting, which allows us to look back at any moment while in the future. Humans love to reminisce and remember the best parts of our lives. This is why we have holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. We all gather around the table to tell funny stories that we remember so we can think about the simpler times. The times when we weren't growing old. The times when we weren't moving away. The times when we weren't thinking of any of those things. Identity work and remembrancing help us cope with these things. We shouldn't get lost in our phones when making memories, and should try to live in the moment as much as possible. But, there is nothing wrong with pulling it out to save memories for later. Do as you wish, but keep a balance. 

Social Media: Gen X vs Gen Z

Ending the week of January 2021, after 3 weeks of political major events, we discussed on our Zoom lectures of memories. How memories were saved, looked at, put away, and discussed. It was interesting learning that diaries back then were used to track family events, history, and passed along to share. When today, diaries are private objects that many hide from being found. The way people capture and keep memories are very different today and even differ in generations. 

To begin with I want to say a little bit of where I come from. I was born the year 1997, you know those years where some of us don’t know if we are considered Millennials or Gen Z. The years where we weren’t born into the high tech technology but to our parents still taking pictures with actual cameras and not their smartphones. Where it wasn’t normal to see a computer on a desk but just toys and the outside. In a way, the oldest groups of Gen Z kind of were the pioneers of the world of social media. That eventually got to the other generations and conformed it into what it is today. 

We also talked about our social obligations to post. When I first heard the question it was a fast no. I never felt like I should post anything, picture, message, video, to my platforms. However, I do post at least once a year on my Instagram just to remind people that I’m still active on that page. So then I thought maybe I do feel that obligation just not as often as others. For years and years I never tweeted something of my own, I got by with retweeting and hearting. On Snapchat, I never dared posting a story, it wasn’t until 2019 that I posted something on my Snapchat. My first time tweet something on Twitter was in 2020. Don’t get me started on Facebook. That platform was one of the first one’s I was on in 2012 and slowly it was taken over by Gen X and it became too much for me. Another reason I avoid it is because my “following” on that platform is so mixed up that I can’t just post anything. I have my parents, grandparents, family from both sides of the family, friends I haven’t seen 10 years, and friends that I haven’t seen in 5. I guess I could say that “social obligation” just vanished when I felt that pressure of everyone on there. 

Talking about that social obligation to my parents who are Gen X, my mom agreed that she does feel it, a lot actually. My mom is the mom that posts about the date nights, anniversaries, most holidays, everyone’s birthdays, family traditions, and pets. She wants and likes to share her life with her family and friends. It is her way of communicating that she is okay as well as the one’s around her. Switching it up to how I think about it and I want to say a lot of Gen Z people think is, if these followers of yours are not involved in your life now and show that they care for what is going on, those people just don’t need to know about what is going on. Let me try to explain this better. I don’t want to speak for a whole generation however, going off of how I think about it and those who are of the same generation around me think of things is that way. That what happens in our lives the good and the bad is for the ones that want to be a part of our lives. So that social obligation is carried differently. 

Transitioning this topic a little more, in class we also talked about remembrancing and memories. Remembrancing was described in our book, The Qualified Self by Lee Humphreys, as a form of memory which is called memory work. It explains how many of us post on social media to look back them and remember. Now this is what I believe Gen Z can agree and resonate better with. It is actually the reason as to why I started to take more pictures and videos. I realized after I graduated high school that I didn’t have that many pictures and videos and my own memory is not reliable at all. Then I came to the conclusion that I should take those random pictures and videos of my friends and family because in 10 years they’ll just be a faded memory that I can’t quite recall. I was asked if that made me sad, that I decided that I should take these pictures and videos because eventually I wouldn’t remember. It doesn’t make me sad when I’m taking them at all I’m actually very happy and content that I get to take these pictures. However, when I think that in 5 years I will look back at some of these memories and they will bring tears to my eyes then yes I do begin to feel sad. However, this is just how it has always been. Pictures are taken and kept in books, boxes, and frames to look back at and remember. Videos were kept in VHS tapes and played on VCR’s to enjoy together. Today it just much easier to post and share these with a lot more people.  To finish of this post, I would like to share a photo that I often look back at because it makes me happy. It is my family and I’s most recent family addition, our Boxer, Lola. 

picture perfect

Look At Me

Pictures help us remember the good times, the bad times, and things long forgotten with time. Even thousands of years ago (longer even), capturing moments in time has been with us since our Neanderthal eras. Started with cave paintings, and ended up moving digital pictures.

Ennedi cave painting

Young monks in Hsinbyume Pagoda

From giving out warnings, to having a still image of just a daily occurrence, art maintains a form of communication between cultures. History is remembered not only by scripture. 

Pictures

Feelings are a big say so for taking pictures. In one of Dr. Vrooman’s lectures, he was talking about “why do we take pictures?” one of the answers is that pictures are like a diary, we record the days of our lives not just in words, but in images. Could even be argued that pictures represent more than just ourselves, but a responsibility to share with others. There are plenty of reasons really. But honestly? Memories are the most prominent of all. 

Forgetting

Memories are fickle. “Memories may become increasingly difficult to access, due to either the natural aging process or damage to the hippocampus and temporal lobe.” (Lesley University) Depending on our brain is susceptible to many ways of forgetting, remembering things is quite remarkable, and pictures help us. 

How Memories Are Made

Stages of Remembering

Despite these three focuses, memory will always be remembered through many, no matter. How one is preserved is by interactions with others and pictures with them. Honestly, most of my own personal memories are enforced through photos and videos, if we had none of those, my mind would have memory gaps where I wouldn’t even remember things well.

Social Media

In Humphreys "The Qualified self”, she writes that “digital and social media has made the recirculation of old media…  in 2011 timeline was introduced a major technological redesign that enabled people to readily and actively engage with their and others previous posts... [remembrance] is a long-standing practice within media accounting... social media makes it especially easy to tag people as subjects in photos as well as to post it to their timeline” (pg. 86-90). In my own understanding of this, social media has broadened the way we can capture a moment, saving it for not just ourselves but friends and family alike to view at their choosing. Social Media has not only expanded the way we make memories, but also in the way it is viewed by others.

In The Moment or In The Picture?

Hi again!

For starters, I want you to think about that one friend or family member that LOVES pictures. This person will make you take pictures for hours until they get the perfect one. Sadly, I have multiple people like that in my life and one of them happens to be my best friend. Don't get me wrong I love taking pictures with her, especially when we go do something fun or we are dressed up nice. But before I go see her, I always have to prepare myself to take a lot of pictures since that's what she loves to do. I haven't really thought about it much until now on why taking a thousand pictures with her has bothered me. I just thought about the last time we spent together and how much fun it was - and of course I went to look at my camera roll and there were surprisingly ZERO pictures. That's kinda crazy considering how much this girl loves to take pictures. But we didn't take pictures this past trip because it was just her and I for a week straight, laughing our butts off while making great memories - that I actually remember. 

I'm someone who actually grew up as a baby model and has gone on many photoshoots for professional photographers, and can enjoy it for hours. But there's just something about being with the people you love and spending HOURS taking pictures with them that gets me SO annoyed. I think it's because I'd personally rather be in the moment with these people instead of taking a picture with them. My mom is also another person who loves taking a hundred million photos, especially family photos. My siblings and I will always get irritated with her but we just have to push through it to make mom happy - happy mom happy life, right? While you are in these moments, have you ever realized when you look back to a picture of you smiling and looking happy - that you were actually SO annoyed and irritated? Honestly, do you remember that or do you just look at the picture and think you were happy?

I have gone back and looked at some of my pictures with me and my friends or of just myself and tried to remember how the day went. In some pictures I remember actually having a great day but in some I remember just awkwardly posing for pictures and the rest of the day actually being very boring. Most of the pictures that I would consider me having a boring day are honestly the ones of just myself - so why did I post them? Well my answer to that is obviously because I thought I looked good. Does that make me a selfish person? No, but it definitely portrays an image of myself for that day that didn't actually occur. Social media can portray anything someone wants their life to look like, this is because you're only looking at someone from the outside of their life. Unless you truly know the person who is posting the picture, you have no idea what their attitude was like while taking the picture, who took the picture, the effort they made to take the picture, and etc. 

Social media and taking selfies has created a new way to hold onto our memories forever. Before smartphones came out, the photos we had were from disposable cameras. You would take the picture and would not be able to see what it looked like until after you went to get them printed - you also couldn't retake the picture (I bet that was nice LOL). I have a big box of pictures of me when I was little and of all my family members, which I'm sure most families do as well. Personally, I am not a sentimental person, like AT ALL - but as I have gotten older I have started to realize pictures are sometimes all you have left of a person. Objects and sacred items are also a way we choose to use as memories, which can also be all you have left of a loved one. I have never been the type of person who has cared for sentimental items, especially when they are coming from someone who is deceased (I'm weird, I know). That being said, pictures are just something that I will forever love to look back on and keep as a memory. 

Pictures are forever memories that will fill your mind and warm your heart no matter where you are in life. So the next time you're taking a picture - whether it's by yourself or with a loved one, try to remember to actually be in the moment. One day when you come across that picture again, you may not remember the whole day completely - but you will remember that moment and you will be glad that you did. 

Mead Theory of "Me" and "I" in Social Media

 Hey everyone, my names Brock Weaver.

For the first blog post I am going to be talking about "Mead" and what his theory was and relating it to a social media trend that I find similar to what Mead theory is about. The theory of "Mead" was discovered by a man named George Herbert Mead who talked about a theory of how we look at our identity in society through ourselves and through others. He gives two words to describe this philosophy as he says the "me"is how you are looked at and perceived by others in society and the way they look and think you are. While the "I" is how you see your own self and the way you choose to look and see who you are. You find this "me" by the interaction with people in society and people you grow up with and the friends you have, plus the things they tell you and see you as. The "I" is found actually by the "me" and how you gather up the things people tell you that you are, or are not, and you then base that into how you see yourself.

The social media example I have for this philosophy is a tik tok trend going on called the "Buss It" challenge. It is a predominately women based challenge as these girls start off by being on the camera looking "average" or "basic" with no type of makeup, hair style or anything done to their image to perceive unattractive. They stand in front of the camera like this to show their look off for several seconds and as the music begins to change the song says "Buss It" and camera changes to them squatting on the ground now in what would be probably their nicest clothes usually a very nice dress or some good looking clothes, with all their makeup done trying to look their most attractive self.  I thought this trend was perfect of what Mead is trying to convey in which these girls are showing the "me" which is them all dressed up and looking good, and then the "I" which is what they see their own self as which is not the true beauty that they have.

In society today we have this perception that if a girl is not wearing a beautiful dress or a face full of makeup and hair done, that they are "Unattractive" this is a perfect example of what Mead is talking about with his "me". This is what society and other people see and they way you are perceived and judged by other people which is how good you look, and that if this is not how you look all the time then you are perceived as "not beautiful" which is completely unfair. Then the second part to this trend is the "I" which is the part of the tik tok where the girls have no makeup and long baggy clothes that is supposed to be perceived as not good looking. I feel like this is how some women see themselves when they are not all dressed up and looking their absolute best which is not true. You should see yourself as beautiful no-matter what you are wearing or not wearing and the clothes you have on or the makeup you wear does not determine how beautiful someone is. This is why this notion of "I" is so much based on what we hear from other people and what society says because of the way it effects the way we think about ourselves. We care so much about what others think and see us as when in reality that "I" should be the most important thing because the way you see yourself is the most important part, not how other people and society see you. Which again is the biggest problem we have in our society/generation today, is that people care to much about the "me" in ourselves and not the "I" which is what matters the most.

I thought this social media trend was a great example for what Mead talks about in his philosophy of "me" and "I". There are these two ways we see ourselves and they really effect the way we feel and see our own self and it is important to understand which one is more important and means more to us. although this trend s fun and entertaining, i'm not taking that away or trying to bash this trend in any way. I just saw that it connected in the way that the dressed up self is the "me" in society and how society and others wants to see you and view you as. While the "I" is the undressed "bummy" look that women see themselves as when they are not in that state. Which is why it is so important to understand the "I" and why the way you see yourself is more important then the way others see you as, the "me". Women are beautiful just the way they are without any of the stereotypical definitions of beauty that society puts out there. Which is why this theory is critical to understand not only for how we view other people, but for how we view ourselves.     

Who is me and who is I?

Yeah, the title is fairly confusing I admit, but the whole idea of who we are as a person can be considered just as confusing. It begs us to reevaluate ourselves and wonder if we are who we think we really are. This is especially true with people who are considered social media influencers who are extremely public about their personal lives as that is essentially their job. In this case, we can see a difference between “I” and “me” as talked about by George Herbert Mead.

As this is my first blog post on here, I guess I should introduce myself as well! My name is Jordan Mendoza, and I am writing this due to the fact that I have been assigned it, but I also am curious to see how far the idea of "I" and "me" goes as well. Today I will be talking about Jacksepticeye to explain the idea of Mead’s theory of “I” and “me”. The “me” part of this theory is essentially how people see you or at least believe you are supposed to be in certain situations. The “me” is more socially involved as the environment and external factors that surround you also become internalized, which means that we might act a certain way or people believe this is how we should act because that is what they have observed based on the interactions and encounters they have had with us. The “I” boasts the opposite as this is the part where our individualistic side factors as this are what we as individuals are truly like internally. That does not mean that these do not connect as the “I” is a direct response to the “me” characteristic as the response is constructed based off of what people assume about us. To simplify that, as Dr. Vrooman puts it, basically “I” makes you the subject or the hero of the story and the “me” makes you the object or puts you in the shoes of how another person might perceive you. Now I know you are wondering, what does this have to do with Jacksepticeye? Well, let us dive into that, shall we?

Jacksepticeye's channel

Jacksepticeye is a well-known YouTuber who specializes in gaming videos and commentary. He is known for his eccentric personality and Irish accent, which seems to make him notable amongst the crowd. As seen through the photo above, he does not necessarily take his videos seriously and likes to have fun with his content as content creators should. However, this also paints a very “me” picture for Jacksepticeye on YouTube as people want him to fit these criteria of a loud Irish dude on the screen as that is what people have come to expect of him. One of his biggest distinguishable features to people is his hair which had been dyed green for the longest time and it matched his channel theme really well. When people saw that he went back to his normal hair, people freaked out and almost panicked seeing him different from the usual person they have come to know and love.

A comment talking about Jacksepticeye's hair change

He was the same person after all, he just did something that was different than what the “me” would characterize him according to his YouTube personality. This, in my opinion, broke this invisible “me” barrier and shattered peoples sense of reality, which is why they were freaking out as they saw Jacksepticeye almost like another being that was not human and that catered to their needs specifically for a refined sense of entertainment that was unique to him and his established persona.

So, we see that Jacksepticeye acts like this loud, goofy character for the camera because that is the “me” we recognize him as for his YouTube persona. He does talk about topics that are important to him and more serious topics like racism and Youtube's bad systems from time to time on the channel, but generally to keep his persona on YouTube, he maintains the goofiness generally in most videos. We do see instances of “I” from Jacksepticeye, or I should better say Seán William McLoughlin as that is his real name, more on Instagram. This seems to be a weird phenomenon where we see Seán’s personality divided into two different types of sections and that is split according to the social media platform he is posting on. On Instagram, we see a more relaxed Seán where he posts pictures outside of his section where he normally films for YouTube. He still has this sort of care-free attitude feel about him, but compared to his YouTube channel, he is much calmer and posts pictures that are similar to what many of our other friends and family members would post on Instagram. So, we get to see this other side of Seán that becomes what I believe, the “I” version of him that we see off-camera or at least, off from the YouTube side of things. Although he might only show us a portion of his life as does everyone on social media, this portion of his life may come off more authentic where he is showing us life past his YouTube persona. It is quite interesting to see how this dynamic feeds off each other even though they portray Jacksepticeye in two different lights.

Jacksepticeye's (Seán’s) Instagram photos

One important thing to note also is that the difference of the “I” vs “me” with Jacksepticeye is that this does not mean it makes him seem fake either way, but that these pieces make up Seán as a whole. Mead helps us to understand these pieces to better understand people and how their personalities of "me" and "I" create the individuals we come to know. In this way, we can see that we all have some form of “I” and “me” and that this not make us seem disingenuous, but it instead simply makes up the culmination of who we are as a person. Through the lens of a social media perspective, Seán perfectly sums up the nature of Mead’s theory to both show what people think we should be displayed as and what we want to be displayed as according to the platform we are on and the audience.

👁 and 🪞

 Mead’s “The I and the Me”

George Herbert Mead has very interesting theories (that are very much proven to be true) about the human self. Starting with the Me, he writes that the Me is the most prominent, as that is the one that reflects our persona so to say. The Me basically being a filter. It's the filter that you most use around people, the one people see and go "ah this is you".  Reading "The Self, The I, and the Me" Ding writes that the Me as "the part of the self that regulates behaviour based on how we imagine others to perceive us... [and] the I ... as part of ourselves" (Youcheng Ding) as how Mead explained, is what dictates our culture. OK, hear me out! You open whatever soci you like the most (snap, inta, Facebook, ect.) and your profile? that the you people see and know. All those cute pics, or the travel blogs, or even just the memes, they all contribute one way or another to the Me. Famous people are the biggest contributors for the Me's. As for the I's... well, those are a bit rareer, but each and every single one of use has a little of the individual, of the I.

Chiara Ferragni

Latest In Space

Social Media isn't just a place where people express their Me's and I's in certain ways, there are an infinite of ways to do that. I will start with those two examples I took from people that I follow. The first one Chiara Ferragni, an influencer that is not just an entrepreneur, but also a fashion icon, and much more. Her Insta feed has not just her work life, but personal. As a follower, it's pretty hard to know for certain if what she shows is the Me or the I, but that is not the main focus, its her followers. Each one will have some Chiara in them. That is to say, they will embody one way or another something from this grand icon that they follow, it could be a mannerism they see her do many times, or maybe a words, could be the way they dress, the point is, they will do it, and that dear friends, is the Me.

The Second shot is a bit harder to perhaps identify. Latest In Space. A page that post many scientific updates, from NASA explorations, to our Planets most noticeable and world wide impactful news. Even a page with such information has Me. This tweet is for a specific group of people, a specific community. So all those people that retweet this? that's a Me. 

It may feel like is hard to find the I in all the Me's in this social world, but it can be simple to fix. Mead writes (and this is my understanding) that, being a Me is easy, just follow the trends, maybe be a stereotype, or perhaps find comfort in being like everyone else (predictable even!), but that "I" hidden inside? that one will come out only if you see yourself not as the reflection or recorder of everyone else, but as the new.

Me, Mead & I

     George Herbert Mead has came up with the social idea of "I and Me" viewed in ways of the social world and norms. To touch base on the definition of "me" is what the reflected view of society and social influences. The "I" is what is reflected and viewed as by yourself that society and social influences are not present. 

    Have you ever followed someone that you know really well on the inside and then see their social media platform profile and realize that it is not who you thought you knew or it is a different side of them. This is the me of social media influence's. But do we still have the control of ourself's to be our own I without social media platforms telling us how to act or what to post is appropriate? 

I do not follow many social media influencers but I do think that there are some out there that show you who they want you to think they are through social media and what they post vs who they really are behind the screen that they are posting it on. I do follow more renovation and family orientated accounts that will show the before and after or the reality vs the instagram pictures. I think this is a balance of both the I and Me view in our lives. 

Here is a page that I follow and is a local couple that is renovating their house, I believe that this a great to see the me influences of social media to get the picture perfect Christmas fireplace and mantle vs what in real life it looks like out side of the social media lenses. 

I believe we all still have the will power of our own I if we step away from the social media camera lenses and see ourselves for who we are and what life is all about not what is portrayed on our screen. 

Memes and Mead

 What's in a Meme?

What is a meme? 

heather15blog

For most college students its a language were are fluent in, but still learning due to its Gen X edition being released in the past few years.

For others like Millennials and Baby Boomers, it can be hit or miss in terms of whether or not you can get the joke or follow along with the main idea of the singular image.

In short, memes are a means of communication and connection between people, but is it really for everyone?

Everyone would like to think so, but how many times have you judged a person for using a meme "wrong"? How many times have you told your parents/teachers "that's not how you use that meme.."? More often than you thought, huh?

Memes can be an amazing way to joke with others, but memes are also subject to policing by younger generations, which makes it less fun for everyone to be a part of.

Mead and me (and don't for get about I)

George Herbert Mead created the social philosophy of "I and Me", closely related to Freuds "ego and censor". 

To make this a quick lesson, I is the active self that is less responsive to social pressures. Me is passive and a reflection of social pressures.

So here is an example of how the two interact, or how you would think they interact: you're working a cash register at a busy department store when an angry customer begins to scream at you. Your "I" would want to give her a piece of your mind, but the "Me" stops you from doing that in order to maintain what society makes you perceive is the right thing to do, which would be to be nice and help the customer anyways.

Mead meets Meme

So, how do memes tie into Mead?

If you think about it, every comment or like that you make on a post is your "me" trying to please the society you wish to make happy. You may think it is your I, but there will always be a group of people you are trying to please, whether you think you're a rebel or not.

Kostas GR

This also begs the question about if we, in our society, still have an I at all? I chose this image because it gives a god visual to what I'm trying to portray. Are we really showing out "I" or are we giving a distorted picture of who we think we are, or "Me"?

Does "I" still exist?

This is still a major debate between philosophers. But, in my own opinion, I do believe we still have an "I". I myself have viewed my "I" in action. When politics were heated I chose to disengage from social media. 

I chose to do that despite the social pressures around me to be involved and get angry on social media.

I made the decision to not please anyone, except myself.

"I" still exists.

Social Media has always been around; Just in different ways we might not have thought

 Introduction

What's up everyone! My name is Edward Kalinowski, but I go by Trent. I am a senior, and am going to be graduating this spring. I'm from New Braunfels, and I am a marketing major trying to get a minor in communications! 

Mead in todays society

Every single one of us have a sort of persona that we carry amongst ourselves. Some of us may think we are the cool guy/gal, the nerdy one, the in-betweener, the DUFF(if you have seen this movie you understand) and so on. How we think of ourselves is how we associate with people in our daily lives. This can be seen as the "I" in Mead. The "me" in Mead is how we think others look at us. These both co-exist and can have affects, good or bad, on our relationships in our day to day lives. I am guilty of letting the "I" spill over into the "me". I thought that I was always too cool to be vulnerable with people, and talk to people how I felt about sensitive issues. I thought of myself as someone who doesn't open up about things, being too cool to do such a thing. This eventually spilt over into how I thought people viewed me. I thought I was viewed as someone who wouldn't do such a thing, because I never had shown people that side of me. Every person you have ever met has a different opinion on who you are, and your personality. Most people want everyone to view them a certain and exact way, but that is simply impossible. 

Social Media before Social Media

Before the Social Media of today, there was social media of the past. I found this interesting, because before reading the text from Humphreys I had never thought of it this way. Before phones, people would write diaries. They would write who they hung out with that day, things about the weather, what they ate, and simple things like what they did in a day. They probably wrote about how much they despised having to literally work on the farm for 10 hours, just so they had something to eat at the end of the day. What I thought was cool is that people would write these diaries, and send them to their family members that live in another part of the country. This was so their family could have an understanding of what their life was like, what kind of people they were hanging around, where they worked, etc. This is social media before social media. We do the exact things, but with our phones. Of course diaries aren't on the same level as phones, but it's the most basic form of social media allowing us to communicate with others we don't see on a daily basis. Of course we have ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, but some of those are confusing to the naked eye and could take years to study. You need historical context, and a true understanding of Egyptian culture to truly get what the hieroglyphics were saying. With the diary you have the daily activities, which are more personable in my opinion. 

Conclusion

I feel like Mead had to have been used when it came to writing these diaries. I'm sure you weren't logging every little thing you did, because we always want to tell people about the good. We only tell the embarrassing to our very close circle. Sometimes we don't tell the embarrassing to anyone. Everyone has a view of themselves that may be different from what others think of them. When we describe things that happened throughout our day, we all have a different perspective. We may be pissed off that it rained because we left our car window open, but someone else may be happy because their garden finally got rain after a couple of weeks. While that doesn't have to do with Mead, it does show how differently situations can be viewed. Mead has existed long before social media. Social media only increased how much Mead impacts our interactions among each other. With instant news to and from your friends and family, it is much easier to shape who you want to be in their eyes. If you want to be seen as a pet person, you will post constantly about your pet. If you want to be seen as a partier, you will post yourself drinking or smoking. Some people don't care though, and will post absolutely everything. Would I ever post about the time I pee'd my pants in class in the fifth grade? Absolutely not, (Well technically I just did but that never happened) unless I wanted to be viewed as funny. But, if you are insecure about that incident you would never want the story to be heard by anyone. I'm sure we will talk about how insecurities shape how we act on social media, but for now I'm out. Peace!

Me vs. I, Social media in today's world

Hello I am Anthony Fashano

 How do we characterize Me vs. I in the social media world we live in today. Mead specifically says that me is the social self and I is the response to the me. So how does this apply to social media in the world. Well first, I am going to focus on how we use social media apps like instagram, facebook, and twitter. We all use one of these apps on a daily basis and some people use all of these apps very often. These social media apps have exploded in the last 10 years and have really in a sense taking over the world and taking over some people's life. People post on these apps about their daily life and what the are doing in that specific time. We can follow people's lives on these apps and stay connected with friends from any part of the world. But is social media as good as we think it is? Well, that is what I am going to talk about in my blog today, let's go. 

First, we have to determine what kind of social media user you are, are you on the addicted side where you using social media more than 4 hours a day or someone who just uses it to follow your friends and stay connected with them. Well, social media can take over someone's life where they are using their social media app to post about every little thing in one's life. There are people who post every single thing they eat, everywhere they go, and everything they think on a daily basis. So in a way, it is a self center thing for some people. These people can post anything they want because you can go on and on about whatever you think. The beauty of it though is that you can control who you follow and who you see post. Social media can make someone feel like they are making a change in the world in some way. Some people think that by reposting something they see online and stating their opinion is changing their followers mind. These people who are addicted users use their app to "show off" and most people don't care about their opinion. Now, the other side are the users who are in a way the I, they share their life in pictures but they don't do it on a daily basis. They use social media in creating connections around the world and to stay connected with their friends. For example, once high school is over, friends go far away to different colleges and they lose the friendships they had in high school. These people use social media to stay connected with their best friends to check in how they are doing. Social media creates a very awesome way to see how they are doing in their lives. These apps create a connection that can keep people together from all over the world. 

Second, how does social media create a sense of social status? Social status in today's world is a much larger thing now because of social media. People from all over the world will do anything that is trendy and try to become "social media famous." It's all about the laugh now and the followers. In some people's eyes the amount of followers you have in social media is the most important thing and makes you popular the more followers you have. Think about it, 90% of these followers that famous people have, they do not know any of them. So how real are these connections that people have over all their followers? There really is a popularity now a days with how many followers you have on these apps. You rarely see people post sad things on these apps, and you don't really know what they are actually going through in their life. In my opinion, I don't really care about posting about my life on social media and I don't use it that much. The people you really care about you talk with them on the phone, in person, or you text them if you are away from them and that is how I stay connected with my friends. Posting this much makes someone feel like they are obligated to post on a daily basis about their daily lives. 

Finally, how is social media creating problems in people's lives? Well first, I think, people rarely go outside and do something active anymore. They are constantly on their phone and inside doing something on social media apps. It became even worse in 2020 because of the pandemic and we were forced to stay inside because of COVID. Everything became to go on zoom with school and peoples jobs and face to face conversations almost stopped. Personally, I think face to face communication is way easier to communicate but now a days everything is over a camera and it's very hard for me to communicate over a camera because I just didn't grow up on a phone or laptop all the time. I personally do not like to be on my phone and I don't really understand how to use all this technology in today's world. Being inside all the time over a camera for classes makes it tough for me to talk cause it's just awkward for me talking over a camera. I am just used to making connections in person. 

Social media, good or bad, is your opinion on that. But social media is here and is only going up in popularity more now a days. People are addicted to this and love to post all the time. Real connections, in my opinion, are hard to find over these apps. Going out and meeting new people is where you learn about someone and how you make a real personal connection. But social media is not going anywhere anytime soon, so I guess you either adapt to it and learn how to use it. 

Mead, Myself, and My True I

Hi guys, I'm Bella!! 

For my first blog post I am going to be writing about "Mead" and my thoughts and opinions on it. "Mead" was originally developed by George Herbert as a way to define the process of one's identity within their internal and external interactions in society. The "me" in mead is how others see you and the "I" in mead is how you see yourself, AKA - your ego. The "me" is learned by interacting with others and the environment. The "I" is held by the "me", meaning you can learn about yourself by finding out people's perceptions of you. 

Some people believe that we only have one or the other, but I believe we have both, the "I" and the "me". Why do I think this? Well I'll break it down for you. How you see yourself is most likely not the same way others see you, meaning you have to have your own "I" for others to see your "me".  My main reason for believing in this is because I know how others see me, but they honestly don't know much about me - just what's on the outside, my "me". 

Growing up I didn't have an easy childhood, but even at a young age I was judged for my appearance and what people "thought" my life was like. My image was portrayed by the clothes I wore and what my house looked like, even though that wasn't actually me - it was just other people's perception of who I was.  People assumed I had this awesome life, when in reality I went through some raw stuff at a young age. I didn't talk about my past much, unless someone asked - which is probably why people had their own opinions of me. I think I felt better knowing people judged me from my appearance on the outside instead of knowing my actual inner self. I remember thinking I never wanted to share my experiences because every time I did people started to look at me differently - which proves my point in saying that their "me" of me changed when they learned my true "I". 

Social media also plays a huge factor in people's perceptions of you. You can follow someone that looks like they have the BEST life, but really behind the camera you have no idea what they are going through. Recently there has been a TikTok trend of people explaining their Instagram posts and what actually went on during their pictures. Some of the videos I saw were pretty honest in saying how they actually had a crappy day, but wore a cute outfit so they decided to smile for a couple photos that turned out to be "Insta worthy". To be honest, I'm sure a lot of people have done this before, I know I have - it happens during family pictures every year. Life can be portrayed to look so amazing on social media, but in reality that may not be the true way that person is living. 

Being totally transparent with someone can be hard, especially in today's society. There are so many standards and different beliefs, it's easy to feel judged if you aren't living the same as someone else, or in social media's case - posting the same as someone else. Here is a good example - I'm sure by now you have seen the "sorority girl" filter and if you don't know what I'm talking about then you probably live under a rock (not really but really). Literally using the same filter as someone can give you a label, which goes back to talking about your "me". Automatically if your Instagram feed has pictures of you where your filter makes you look slightly like an Oompa Loompa, then people can label you as a "rich sorority girl with blonde hair", when in reality maybe you just like that filter. Me - I'm one of those people who just like the filter (no I don't know why but I do) but I am not in a sorority. That is just one of the many ways I have been stereotyped before - ALL because of a  F I L T E R. 

Posting a picture of yourself smiling obviously portrays to someone that you're happy, but everyone knows that the person posting may just be posing. I feel like that is the same thing when talking about your "I" and your "me". All your "me" really is, is how others see you - whether that is in person, in class, or on social media. I believe that your "me" can also sway what you think your "I" is, but I don't believe that's the only way you're going to find your true "I". Like I said in the beginning, I know most people's image of me is not even close to my reality. That being said, labels or no labels - my "me" to someone else doesn't define my true "I".