Most pictures and videos are filtered, cropped, and arranged to capture your attention and make things appear differently than what they actually are. I am no different. The collage of pictures/posts on my IG are a result of the times that I felt good or thought I looked good. But here and there, I include pics that show more vulnerability because it’s important to show transparency and vulnerability at times.
Somehow, we now live in a world that supports filters, masks, and an increasing level of people who are lovers of themselves and not others. This is the edited life. It’s the one that young people have been trapped into believing that all things come, quick, fast, and in abundance. This is the edited life, where your ass can be as big or as little as you want and your face can be painted to look like a completely different person, which is a master manipulation in my humble opinion.
This is the edited life, where at the click of the button you can find yourself on a dark and winding path to nowhere. This is the edited life, where script and curated text exchanges are preferred over authentic conversation. This is the edited life that has the potential to bring more harm than good. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not all bad. In fact, there is a lot of good.
There are motivational videos galore, self-help and tutorials on everything you can imagine. And my personal favorite… the YouTube videos that show you what to wear, how to wear it, and provide the links to the items for you to have a different virtual shopping experience. There are podcasts, like mine, and many many others that provide authentic information and personal experiences. So maybe the edited life is mostly good.
I’m still figuring out how to best use this ever-evolving world of human interaction and AI interconnectedness but proceeding with caution.