Becoming a Voyeur

 

                                               (image: youtube.com)

Pila kaw ka oras nagsuyong sa selpon?

You think that they are not active on social media since they are not posting anything. But they are there, scrolling and looking at each mistake others do on the virtual spaces. These are the modern-day voyeurs. They are the social media voyeurs.

A social media voyeur is the one who lurks in the shadows and uses social media as a means of peering into the lives of others (Fazio, 2014).

This one goes online to get the scoop on what’s going on with everyone else. Often these people will scroll through their news feed for hours, or you might find them following the accounts of multiple people especially those who have celebrity status.

Manochikitsa (counselling site in India) reported: Psychologically, voyeuristic tendencies can be driven by a desire for control, a sense of escape, or the fulfilment of unmet fantasies. The digital age has facilitated voyeuristic behavior by providing anonymity and accessibility through webcams, social media platforms, and explicit content dissemination.

When can we say that we are now falling into this category? Through self-assessment, and focused self-observation, you may notice that you are scrolling social media sites even if you are eating, attending a meeting or during conversations. When manners and social etiquette will be set aside in exchange of the sheer entertainment of knowing what others are doing, something is already wrong.

Is there an effect to the brain of doing this?

Social media-addicted individuals show poor skills in controlling or inhibiting their responses. Another aspect that deserves to be mentioned is the lack of attention. The constant lack of attention produced by the internet results in a phenomenon that some have explained as “distracted from distraction by distraction” (Abreu, Nabuco, ND).

Research studies suggest that people who are constantly online activate regions associated with language, memory, and visual processing in a lower intensity, that is, they do not display much activity in the prefrontal area.

Therefore, cognitive control processes will be hampered.

There is a need for awareness on this matter. The one who grimaces on such feedback and be on denial mode is already manifesting traits of addiction. Addicts do not accept that they are.

Instead of consuming too much information and become a voyeur to the lives of others, one can make the social media as a platform to create, inform and recreate. The mind is dependent on the individual who nurtures or damages it.

Your Actions are Your Prayers

 

                                               (image:youtube.com)

Gusto ko mabright, madato… o gusto ko magkugi, para mabright hasta madato?

There are people who consume too much information and process them. They will then possess a confidence based on the things that they know. Yet, one can wonder if the set of knowledge in one’s head would be enough to see others differently.

Developing one’s intelligence is a goal. There is nothing wrong about it. But what is the deeper meaning of acquiring such? Which will bring us to the discourse of INTENTIONS rather than goals.

Intentions according to Tumblin (2022) are the reasons behind what you do (i.e. the action). One’s actions naturally follow from one’s intentions.

But isn’t this the same with motivation?

Intention is what (the thing) you want to create and motivation is how you feel about what you're going to do or create (Ruelle, 2016). Therefore, intentions are deliberate while motivations are attached to feelings.

While intentions are deep, there are those who stop doing the things they do since their feelings changed. They become unmotivated. Those with strong predisposition continue the task deliberately. They WILL to do it.

Which goes back to query: What is your deliberate intent to consume information? Isn’t this to process them and create an output for the greater good? If not, what? Pure entertainment and self-consumption? Then, is your intention clear that you need to be well-informed to be a better public servant or leader?

Still, the reactive personalities will then retort: What is it to you? They will then remind us to mind our own business.

There are also those whose intentions are bad. That is the reason why our moral compass must be attuned well.

In a spiritual concept, our intentions and actions are our prayers.

According to Henderson (2022): Prayer and the power of intention are fundamentally one and the same thing; processes in which your mind has a particular focus: a healing, a desire, or an intervention of some kind.

Spiritual individuals, those who touch base with their core, are always reconciling their actions with their intentions. Those who are relying more on motivations oftentimes go astray.

 

Freedom or Something Else?

 

                                                (image: A-Z Qoutes)

Di siguro kun pinyangga nan bata pa!

Is freedom absolute? This question comes to mind when some people make “freedom of expression” as the excuse for their social media posts. But think about this: When you hurt, malign and cause someone emotional distress, can your “freedom” be still considered as an excuse?

The Constitution says that freedom of expression is the freedom for us all to express ourselves. It is the right to speak, to be heard, and to participate in political, artistic, and social life. It also includes the ‘right to know’: the right to seek, receive, and share information through any media.

While the right to freedom of expression is fundamental, it is not absolute. This means it can be limited in exceptional circumstances. Speech that encourages violence and discrimination against people (e.g. intentional incitement to racial hatred), should be prohibited.

Also, categories such as incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and threats are not within the bounds of this freedom.

Which brought us to wonder why people hide behind this excuse when they post violent and unbecoming words on social media. Is this a symptom of a psychological disturbance or even some sort of mental illness?

Berne (1970) theorized recognition hunger as the need to be noticed or to receive attention and acknowledgement, which can only be supplied by another human being. It is a need for a sense of belonging and a feeling that other people know you exist in the world.

There are individuals in our social ecology who will post “catchy” or even “violent” contents (like cursing) hiding behind the freedom of expression concept. They sometimes fail to understand that the ulterior motive is to satisfy their need to be noticed and recognized.

A need for approval now and then may be part of human relationships, but seeking others’ approval every step of the way may signal an emotional challenge (Fergusson, 2022).

Bright Quest reveals that the signs and symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) include extreme emotions and mood swings, a constant fear of being abandoned, a strong need for validation from others, unstable relationships, a shifting sense of self, feelings of paranoia and suspicion, and a chronic and uncomfortable sense of emptiness.

When feedback come to us that we are posting too much “edgy” content on social media and we hide behind the excuse of freedom, we have to examine our character-traits as well. We might be on the verge of being unstable.