See Yourself, Not Others

 

Way taghimo, aja da masipanhilabot. There is a current trend of sloth which is happening around. This mainly focuses on people who are making themselves become Peeping Toms on social media. Some call them Facebook Police. But whatever the terminologies may be, they are simply targeting for pure GOSSIP. They fish information out from the lives of others and most of the time find the gaps on the lives of others for them to gloat.

For those who are unaware, a peeping Tom is a title used to refer to someone who gains pleasure from watching someone else. The term is another way of saying a voyeur, which Merriam-Webster defines as a “prying observer” who gains stimulation and/or pleasure from watching others.

Seeing is pleasure — especially from a distance. There is something alluring about watching Snapchat or Instagram stories, viral video clips and even reality television. We reap the benefits of having our senses stimulated by human life but hold no personal investment in what we are watching. Oftentimes we do it to escape the boredom or discomfort of a situation. From afar, we indulge in the lives of others and measure ourselves up to one another in the process (Sontag, 2016).

Most of the time, these persons are NOT really busy. They just seem busy doing something. But they are actually not productive. They spend so much time scrolling social media sites and prying into the lives of others forgetting that they have their own lives to consider.

Why do we snoop on others on social media? Scientists have a lot of theories. One is related to voyeurism in general: snooping gives us power. According to a 2014 study on being a voyeur on social media, checking out someone's feed allows the lurker to "learn from others by watching them," without "giv[ing] anything out in return," upsetting the balance of power.

Power. There are those who hunger for it. There are those who feel powerful when they can see mistakes of others displayed on these sites. Some even redeem their feigned power over others by simply posting comments to say: I am still powerful. Yes, there are many who are still do not understand their SICK side.

How much power do you want? Is it not enough to have power over your OWN life? For a start, use your power by making yourself productive. Do something! Create.

Make yourself beautiful! Nagkayaot na kaw lamang! Take time to bathe!