The Self-Obsessed Generation: How Today’s Generation is Obsessed with Themselves
Every morning I religiously check my Facebook, Twitter and, Instagram accounts to see what the latest topics trending are for the day. Without fail, I come to find people posting about what they had to eat, how they feel about everything down to their own self affirmations and of course, the infamous “selfie!” We’re growing up in a generation where it’s acceptable to be a little bit more than self obsessed, not to say that previous generations weren’t, but the resources we utilize now shed more light on the subject.
That being said while researching more into the subject, the best place to start was social media. Out of all the statuses posted on Facebook, I think it’s fair to say that predominantly most of them consist of people’s personal subject matters that don’t necessarily have to be shared with the world. Take a look a Twitter, some people tweet up to 500 times a day on topics about what they ate for breakfast and the fight they got into with their significant other. Outlets like these make everyone an author to their own stature and give 24/7 access to information about themselves to the public.
Instagram has taken this access of information to another level by adding a visual component to it. Users can now take pictures of what they’ve eaten for breakfast, caption it and hashtag it to their hearts desire till they get the amount of likes they want to forfill their self-delusion. I’ll admit as an Instagram user myself, I do enjoy posting the occasional selfie and browsing through pictures, but once you have to start documenting your every moment for the web, you might want to consider saving the duck face photo for another time.
I asked fellow Instagram user and college student Emily DeSantis, on her take of our generation becoming more self obsessed and her response was rather interesting, she said, “I think this so called “self obsessed generation” is something that can be taken positively if used correctly. I’m able to share my opinions on topics I would’ve never been able to voice to the public. I’m also able to document moments in my life through Instagram videos and pictures, and share them with friends around the world, while we’re all away at school. Going back even 10 years ago, outlets like this were just starting to blossom and I think our generation is benefiting from it now, but I can see how it can easily be abused by people sharing their every thought”.
College student Christina Capriotti, then chimed in taking the other defense on the subject adding, “Yes, its great having these social outlet’s to share whatever we feel but, I do think we’re starting to create a monster with the whole selfie generation. Why do people find the need to post a picture of their face daily just blows my mind. There’s so much more to take interest in then a duck face”.
Our so-called self obsessed generation is definitely something that is rising to popularity today. Media outlets like the TODAY show on NBC and E! News even had segments dedicated to the topic. Just recently there was even a song released, by a popular music group, The Chainsmokers called #SELFIE. We’ve only seen the beginning of this new trend, and I don’t think it’s coming to an end anytime soon.
