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I just watched Catfish. (I know, it came out a long time ago, bear with me.)
If you haven't seen it and would like to see it, then you should probably stop reading now.
I'll wait if you'd like to leave.
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Ok. I'm back. Glad you could stick around! So, Catfish. Catfish is a supposedly real documentary (but has been criticized for being a fake). In a nutshell, the movie is about a 20-something New York photographer who starts an online relationship with a beautiful girl living in the midwest. They have never met. He texts her, sends her emails, talks to her on the phone, all over the course of several months. He *knows* she's gorgeous based on all of the photos on her Facebook page. They talk about being together one day, sharing lives, having a real relationship. They fall in love.
The sad part is that she was a fake. The girl turns out to be a hoax, an entire world created and edited by someone else. The person behind the photos is an artist named Angela Wesselman Pierce. If Catfish is indeed a fake documentary, then I watched a fake documentary that pretends to be real life, about a woman faking her identity on Facebook. A hoax about a hoax.
What I found really interesting about Catfish was the idea that we all edit ourselves online. I definitely do that with this blog. I only post photos I like. I write about only certain aspects of my life. I don't use the boy's real name, or my real name even. It's a curated version of myself, framed in pink. [Although I can still guarantee this blog features the "real" me. You can see some proof here.]
When my life is bombarded with my career, you'll likely not hear from me because I don't share that part of my life on here. It's edited out...hence my silence lately.
We all edit ourselves to some extent, online and in person. What do you share and not share on your blog? How much of your authentic self do you edit?
Cappadocia, Turkey Hot Air Balloon Guide
1 year ago
9 comments:
I have never watched that! I am going to now! I think this is so true, I agree with you whole-heartedly.
Xo Chloe.
It's true, we do edit ourselves to present ourselves a certain way, often based on who our audience is. For example, what I share in Facebook may be different than what I share on Twitter may be different still for what I share on my blog. I don't talk much at all about work related things on my blog. There's a lot of my personal life that I edit out (though question whether or not I should...).
sometimes I wish I was anonymous on my blog...my writing would definitely be different if it was anonymous. But then I miss out on the point in which i started my blog..which was for friends and family, who know the "real" me anyway!
I had to go to APW with my post about being depressed because it was easier to imagine it being read by people I didn't "know" along with all of my blog friends who didn't know I was depressed because I don't talk about it much on my blog.
I also wish I could write more about fighting, but I only want to do it with Collin's input, which presents logistical challenges and sometimes resurrects the fight in question.
This one's definitely making me think.
I do know that I'm a lot less cool and a lot more boring in real life than on my blog. Life isn't all rosy and sweet, either. But part of the reason I write it is to look for beauty and focus on positive inspiration, which helps keep my optimist tendencies strong (and anxiety at bay a little more). I know that if my blog ever crosses from intentional optimism into something that's tiring extra work for me, I'll quit writing.
I think it would change if I wrote anonymously and my family and friends weren't readers, but I started the blog to keep in touch while I was away for most of a year. Maybe then I'd talk about other things. But it would get to be even more of a messy hodgepodge if I did!
...like I said, this has definitely got me thinking, in a good way. This is definitely not something we talk about on our blogs, but it's something any blogger or blog reader should definitely think about.
I try to edit the really bitchy side of me because (a) I know nobody wants to read a debbie downer all the time (b) when I look back on this I don't want to be ashamed of who I was at the time. I don't try to portray myself a certain way, I just don't think every single detail is worth writing about. If it's boring to write about, it's boring to read. I never delve much into my work life, either. Partly because it's not interesting, partly because we are forbidden to do so, and partly because it's too risky- you never know who is reading. I also don't share our last name (it's probably slipped out on accident once or twice, but generally I edit it out). You just have to edit some- it's too risky not to.
Thank to everyone for your input. What I find most interesting is that some of you mentioned that your blogs are a means for family and friends to be in the know about your lives. A lot of my family and friends do read this blog, but I never guessed that they would. I definitely think I present myself differently here than I do in person to them.
@Robin: I always debate whether or not to talk about fights with the boy on here too. I generally steer clear because I know it'll just present a whole new slew of problems. If it's a "cute" fight then I write about it, but when it's ugly, it comes nowhere near the blog.
thanks for sharing that documentary. i would love to watch it. and yes we all do that, edit and delete. it's only human nature. but i'd like to think that bloggers like to share HAPPY news! there's already too much tragedy on TV, in the news, in our lives. why not spread a little joy and celebrate another's happiness?
that's what i think anyway. i do vent a little on my blog. not a lot. just a teeny bit. heh!
I don't edit myself too much, though there are some things I don't say, just because I think they're not appropriate for the space and I'd rather have in person conversations about them. I never mentioned the details of my breakup on my blog and I think keeping the ups and downs of one's love life off to be a good idea, though keeping a significant other off would be strange. We each write our own rules and do what is best for us.
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