Rachel Ruff's Blog - Posts Tagged "digital"
The Seven Digital Sins
I like observing when people sit with friends and family to look at old photo albums and reminisce with smiles and happy tears. You can almost see within the creases of their crows feet, the memories being conjured. Amusement park trips, bike rides, baby's first picture, Christmas dinner at the dining room table with Grandpa before he passed. Then the book shuts and all that's left of the experience is the waft of old film resin and the warmth in their hearts.
I dislike observing when people sit at their computer screen and stare at friends' Facebook albums for an insurmountable amount of time. You can almost see within the furrow of their brow, the envy arising. A friend's vacation to Paris, an ex in a bikini shot petting the dog you once shared, Grandpa, who hasn't passed away, yet, whom you haven't visited in a while, for no good reason at all.
For some Facebook surfers who are suffering with FOMO, a term coined by psychologists which means "Fear of Missing Out," they are dissecting the photos instead of smiling back at their friends' pages for what they have uploaded. According to a study, 20% of posters feel "FOMO" about the other people's seemingly YOLO (You only live once) lives.
Not everyone feels disgust or envy nor does everyone feel complete joy for what their loved ones and friends have shared on social media sites. But aren't we all guilty of feeling, at least once, one teeny-tiny time, a tinge of one of the seven deadly sins while in the digital arena? In this social media obsessed society, "deadly" can be interchanged with the word "digital" for the seven sins because of a myriad of reasons. None can be justified as solid excuses, but rather human nature affected by intangible social media sites causing our brains to over-circuit resulting in circuitous contact with our loved ones. Here are some examples.
The Seven Digital Sins
Wrath: "God damn this internet access, why can't log into my Facebook account?" Or how about, "I'm going to get my divorce attorney to filter through his site. I'm going to bust that lying, cheating bastard."
Avarice: "I have more friends than Stacey!"
Gluttony: Similar to the above, yet with the vain intention of habitually trying to "add friends" just to raise your numbers in popularity even if you don't really care for them as real friends.
Sloth: A person sitting around the computer with his hand in his pajama pants, for hours on end, with potato chips and a beer at the desk side, looking at girlfriends while inappropriately fantasizing about them.
Lust: Similar to the above except even more dangerous. Such as a strong sexual desire for a dear friend's husband or wife whom you inappropriately engage in on an online affair.
Envy: Can sometimes be a result of the above...not working out as you had hoped because the spouse didn't reciprocate your indecent messages. Another example of online envy is a desire to become pregnant but after multiple attempts to conceive and failing, you begin to snarl at the computer screen of a girlfriend's new bundle of joy. Or maybe it's someone's profile you shudder at because he/she is better looking, richer, and smarter. Ding, ding, ding!
Pride: My wall is the best, my friends are the coolest, my photos are the hottest, my tags are the sweetest, my posts are the wittiest. Me, me, me. Shut up already, you.
We may not kill someone as a result of our online altercations, obsessions, or insecurities. But these digital sins can prove deadly to our true social interactions, our friendships, or even worse, to our souls, by killing the love for the most important person who needs your "thumbs up" and often. Yourself.
YOLO! Lets we change the FOMO acronym to mean "Family & friends Offline More Often" starting today.
I dislike observing when people sit at their computer screen and stare at friends' Facebook albums for an insurmountable amount of time. You can almost see within the furrow of their brow, the envy arising. A friend's vacation to Paris, an ex in a bikini shot petting the dog you once shared, Grandpa, who hasn't passed away, yet, whom you haven't visited in a while, for no good reason at all.
For some Facebook surfers who are suffering with FOMO, a term coined by psychologists which means "Fear of Missing Out," they are dissecting the photos instead of smiling back at their friends' pages for what they have uploaded. According to a study, 20% of posters feel "FOMO" about the other people's seemingly YOLO (You only live once) lives.
Not everyone feels disgust or envy nor does everyone feel complete joy for what their loved ones and friends have shared on social media sites. But aren't we all guilty of feeling, at least once, one teeny-tiny time, a tinge of one of the seven deadly sins while in the digital arena? In this social media obsessed society, "deadly" can be interchanged with the word "digital" for the seven sins because of a myriad of reasons. None can be justified as solid excuses, but rather human nature affected by intangible social media sites causing our brains to over-circuit resulting in circuitous contact with our loved ones. Here are some examples.
The Seven Digital Sins
Wrath: "God damn this internet access, why can't log into my Facebook account?" Or how about, "I'm going to get my divorce attorney to filter through his site. I'm going to bust that lying, cheating bastard."
Avarice: "I have more friends than Stacey!"
Gluttony: Similar to the above, yet with the vain intention of habitually trying to "add friends" just to raise your numbers in popularity even if you don't really care for them as real friends.
Sloth: A person sitting around the computer with his hand in his pajama pants, for hours on end, with potato chips and a beer at the desk side, looking at girlfriends while inappropriately fantasizing about them.
Lust: Similar to the above except even more dangerous. Such as a strong sexual desire for a dear friend's husband or wife whom you inappropriately engage in on an online affair.
Envy: Can sometimes be a result of the above...not working out as you had hoped because the spouse didn't reciprocate your indecent messages. Another example of online envy is a desire to become pregnant but after multiple attempts to conceive and failing, you begin to snarl at the computer screen of a girlfriend's new bundle of joy. Or maybe it's someone's profile you shudder at because he/she is better looking, richer, and smarter. Ding, ding, ding!
Pride: My wall is the best, my friends are the coolest, my photos are the hottest, my tags are the sweetest, my posts are the wittiest. Me, me, me. Shut up already, you.
We may not kill someone as a result of our online altercations, obsessions, or insecurities. But these digital sins can prove deadly to our true social interactions, our friendships, or even worse, to our souls, by killing the love for the most important person who needs your "thumbs up" and often. Yourself.
YOLO! Lets we change the FOMO acronym to mean "Family & friends Offline More Often" starting today.
