By Nour El Dean

You probably didn’t notice that you lied today on social media, whether it was on Instagram, Facebook, or through a text. You didn’t notice because we have made a habit out of it until it’s become the new normal. You lied when you decided to take part in the popularity contest that is being held 24/7 online, trying to show that you’re living a different life than the life you’re actually living. Whichever persona you have tried to claim as your own, social media makes it so easy to crop out and filter through the parts you don’t want people to see. You could be pretending to be an intellectual hipster, a crazy-in-love girlfriend, a health expert, a lighthearted comedian –  whatever your poison is, when are you going to realize that you are lying, at least a little bit?

 

Coffee: Is it your savior in the morning or is it the new pretentious photograph?
When Instagram was downloaded on your phone, the importance of coffee became much more than your hero in the morning; it became your way of getting likes and people’s attention. Also adding an intellectual caption to it would definitely give you the edge you were looking for. The question is, do you actually like coffee more now because the world is getting more and more hectic therefore you need the energy? Or is coffee the new chic way to seem intellectual, deep and interesting?

coffee_instagram

 

Would you have remembered his birthday if Facebook didn’t remind you?

Birthdays are becoming a competition; who’s getting more likes on their birthdays post, who received more wall posts, and which party is talked about the most on social media. At this point, it doesn’t make sense – birthdays used to be a special and an intimate gathering where you make memories with your close friends and family. Now everyone relies on Facebook to remind them of even their close friends’ birthdays, calls are being replaced by wall posts, sending gifts is replaced by Instagram posts and intimate birthday gatherings have become as big as a wedding party. And be honest, don’t you feel even slightly dishonest wishing someone happy birthday when you haven’t spoken to them since their last birthday?

facebook-birthday-1

 

Do you even really like art, or do you just want to look deep?

It is true that art is becoming much more important in Egypt and we’re starting to be valued for it, but is it for the right reasons? I often hear stuff like “sawarni soura deep” or “3ayez asawar sowar zay …” – when did it become okay to describe art as ‘deep’  or to want to be an artist like someone else? It’s okay to be inspired but it’s not okay to want to copy someone’s identity. Art was discovered for us to become better versions of ourselves; to become emotionally stable, creative and to inspire – it’s main purpose is being killed nowadays that we’re just copying international artists just so we can have a new outstanding shot on our Instagram, or when we consider painting or photographing something just to put it up on the social media. Art is not your new Facebook profile picture and it shouldn’t be created for any of those purposes.

 

Are we becoming better versions of ‘ourselves’ on the internet? Are we just showing people what we want to show? It’s upsetting how far we’re willing to go to show people that we’re leading a happy life, that we’re interesting and intellectual. It’s upsetting because there’s so much more to us than a profile on the internet. The social media is killing the art of conversation and getting to know people for who they really are. We enjoy being complimented for something that we posted online through likes and comments, even if it doesn’t accurately represent who we are. It’s just a small snapshot. Someone should be getting to know you for you and not for your internet profile.