Selfie Addiction

I am going to make myself sound old in the post, but I need to share my truth. As a baby-boomer, I am still shocked at the number of selfies some people post on social media and I still view it as a sign of insecurity rather than self-love. I see young women especially who are posting selfies several times a day. It makes me wonder how they even have the time. I was always too busy with kids, work and life to stop and think about how I looked at any given moment. I was taught by my parents (the Silent Generation) to just get on with it and to avoid any expression of vanity. So this whole mindset is very foreign to me.

The millennials, aka my children, are so much more comfortable with sharing all their personal problems online. I am on Twitter most days and people in their thirties will openly tell you about their mental health issues, disabilities, relationship woes, sex lives, gender identification or body issues, addictions etc. I am not saying that this is a bad thing. Quite the opposite; I applaud them for their openness and ability to support and comfort each other. Isolation and loneliness are largely overcome by connecting in this way. 

I also fear that potential employers will look at an applicant’s posts before hiring and see all these personal details. I never shared with my boss my struggles with anxiety throughout my career. I always feared that they would look at me or treat me differently as less competent. Wouldn’t a potential employer choose the candidate who wasn’t posting everything about their mental illness online?

So what do you think? Are people oversharing way too much on social media or is it a positive thing? I’d love to hear your thoughts.