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.
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.
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