Social Media and Exhibitionism

I'm oftentimes puzzled at how much visibility into my personal life and likes/dislikes my social media involvement provides. For a professed introvert whose #1 favorite sport is people and behavior watching, that certainly seems like a contradiction.

I've heard before in the media "concern" that our continuous stream of sharing through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, et al., is creating a very vane and overbearing attitude in people. But is it really? The latest item I've read on this issue is featured on psychcentral.com under an article titled "Is Exhibitionism the New Modesty?" -- which is counterintuitive at best from just seeing the word choice in the title...but looking closer through the article, what I learned from the author is that:
"Perhaps it’s not 'exhibitionism' so much as trying to be more 'real' and 'in the moment' with the people we care about — our friends and family."

I believe the answer lies in investigating (something hard to do) what the emotional objective is when someone shares personal information AND expects or receives a response. If the interest in posting information about onself is self-agrandization, or a temporary or artificial rise in self-esteem due to the attention, then yes, this is a case of vanity. If the interest in posting information is to reveal the same sort of information about oneself that is usually shared with friends and family through a lunch or coffee break conversation, then not so much, is it?

It's a little different posting what you ate for breakfast on Facebook to friends and family (who apparently haven't unfriended you yet for a lack of interesting things to say!) vs. driving around in a Maserati Quattroporte with a strikingly tall, blond girlfriend.

The use of the Internet and the speed at which information can travel, and the many uses social media is offering us, is not only changing our behavior as we use it, but more importantly, it requires a shift in how we think about it and its effects. I find the use of the word modesty and immodesty very old fashioned in a psychological or technology/social media context. When things are moving so quickly and our society is advancing in the means it uses to communicate, it merits that we modify our shared language and thought process as we approach and discuss the repercussions.

For an example, in looking at successful Twitter users and Twitter spammers, the difference is usually simple...the spammers tend to engage in two, self-isolating activities:

• continuous push of self-serving information/shameless self-promotion
  
• no effort to dialogue with others, sharing useful information w others/learning from others
  

Eventually, those individuals engaging in these spamming activities find themselves with no one following them, therefore the emotional return on investment they're banking on (to boost that old ego) does not provide them the artificial high they so need.

It's the mark of a smart and responsible individual to be self-aware and emotionally intelligent. Dignity and courtesy not only are good discipline, but produce positive, long-term results--particularly in online interactions.