Something is wrong with my generation, i.e. what happened to the social network

This is something I've been silently observing and thinking about for a long time and I know I definitely have at least part of the answer.

It's that people use their social network of choice to make others believe they have interesting, fascinating, exciting lives whether it's true or not. The more effort a person puts into this the less interesting they actually are in real life but you wouldn't know it by looking at their Facebook page. Insecurity plays a big part in this. Some of the most shallow, hollow, unhappy people I know have Facebook timelines that make them seem as though they are living the dream when in reality they truly hate themselves. I'm not trying to disparage them - they really do hate themselves, they've told me so and see therapists about it.

Now that we have Internet celebrities who've built a brand everyone wants to do it too. And it's not hard. All you need is any common smartphone. It's about building a fantasy life. On the web it's easy to play pretend and give off certain impressions. Some people take it to the point where they believe their own myths. These are the most uninteresting people in the world with, ironically, the most interesting social network profiles in the world.

>However, for the first dish we had a goodly porker, with a garland upon him, and puddings, goose giblets, lamb-stones, sweetbreads, and gizzards round him; there were also beets and houshold-bread of his own baking, for himself, which I would rather have than white; it makes a man strong, and I never complain of what I like. The next was a cold tart, with excellent warm honey, and that Spanish, running upon it. I eat little of the tart, but more of the honey; I tasted also the red pulse, and lupines, by the advice of Calvus, and several apples, of which I took away two in my handkerchief: for if I bring home nothing to my little she slave, I shall have snubs enough: this dame of mine puts me often in mind of her.

--from the Satyricon of Petronius, a Roman satirist of the 1st century AD.

People have been talking about food for a long time...only the medium changes.

What did you expect? Most people are normal and normal people are boring.

The majority of folks' lives, outside the small percentage of people you would actually want to follow, are just: Eating, Shitting & Fucking.

Shitting == Too gross to document unless it's a prank. Fucking == Too exhibitionistic for most & social networks' TOS seem to frown on that sorta stuff.

That leaves Eating... Nice, safe, normal. Boring.

1) Food is an easy subject to photograph. It doesn't move, it's attractive (chefs try to present good looking food), it's close-up (so you don't need a big lens to get bokeh / blur; and you don't need to zoom so it's steadier).

2) Food is fun to look at. Mmm, foood.

3) It hits the lowest common denominator. Everybody eats.

Yes, it looks a bit boring and shallow. It's broadcast, so it has to be. I bet the OP has some really interesting IM conversations with real friends, but anything in the newsfeed is going to be crap.

The author never talks about this "meaningful content" he wants to see on social networks.

Why can't people just impulsively think that their food is photogenic and cool and take pictures of it? The author has no right to determine what is meaningful because that is the point of the social NETWORK. The rest of the population determines what they think is meaningful, and they shove it down everyone's throats. It's not a status symbol. It's just how people talk on the internet nowadays.

People want to present themselves in their best light. There's nothing new about that - it's just that on a social network you can be much more selective about what you present. We're not stupid - everybody knows what's going on.

What do you expect, am I going to post a picture of myself sitting and watching TV so you can see the "real me?" Post about my insecurities? Or should I only post when I've discovered a cure for cancer, or some other event of great importance? Sounds boring to me.

Some people like food. Some people like cars. Some people are obsessed with their kids. Some are political. Some people are amateur sports commentators on Facebook. Whatever is cool with me, I get to see what you're all about. If I personally find your posts boring or obnoxious then I put you in the "important updates only" category.

This seems pretty silly. A lot of people — myself included — use photos as a way to remember something. Occasionally I'll take a photo of food or the restaurant or something around me just to remind me of that experience; reliving my life through photos is one of the reason I cherish having such a large Aperture library these days (and geotagged to boot).

I think there's an assumption here that 1) everyone taking photos are posting them to a social network (I probably only post 5% of my photos anywhere), and 2) that this is inherently distasteful. People like food, and people like sharing experiences with their friends.

This is basically telling a story. Remember that Instagram or Foursquare will tag where you at- I think a lot of times it's not about "here's what I ate" and more "check out where I am". A lot of discussions can be had surrounding the story of where rather than what.

i was looking at some petroglyphs at zion's national park a few months ago when i realized that they were drawing pictures of the same things we take pictures of today.

the only difference is we take pics of our food after it's prepared while they drew pics of their food in it's pre-prepared state.

Not sure why he's picking on the Asians. In my experience this phenomenon doesn't seem to be restricted to any specific ethnic group.

> If you are young 20 something, have asian friends, and on any sort of social network

Absent supporting data, the bit about asian friends seems a bit prejudiced.

“This is me, this is how I have fun, and look at how cool I am.” - That always was and always will be what people want to convey about themselves. For some people it will be a feed of food and cars and partying, for some it will be tweeting complex gists in functional languages.

"we were supposed to be sharing meaningful content" - What, who decided that's what we are supposed to do?

I don't know about everyone else, but I've tweeted/shared pictures of food before. It's almost always food I've made. I grew up in a family where food meant contentment and happiness. Food was made with joy and love. And sometimes, when I get that warm fuzzy feeling over food I've made, I just want to express it.

Pshh. NakaMats has been photographing every meal for decades! http://news.3yen.com/2005-10-07/wonderous-old-fraud-dr-nakam...

None of this is unique to social networks or new. Giving people a new way to communicate with each other doesn't change what they want to communicate. Most people want to impress other people.

Why would communication with friends through the internet would be any more meaningful than communication with friends through other means? Why was it better that people in the 90s showed off their new toys face to face instead of face to face and on Facebook?

Maybe "look at how much more sophisticated I am than the 'normal' people" is the insecure-hacker version of "look at what a cool lunch I had."

You're either having fun or trying to convince everyone that you are having fun. They are mutually exclusive. If you're having actual fun, you're not thinking about stopping to tweet it.

Food has become a trending social topic. Is it a bad thing? Not necessarily. If you observe the cultures around the world, food has always brought people together. In the age of connectivity, it's still bringing people together although at a much larger scale but unfortunately sometimes a bit narcissistic.

I think if you look around you'll still see plenty of people who very much enjoy food without feeling the need to snap pics, even if they Asian ;).

You're using "i.e." incorrectly in the title.

Sharing pictures of food is the small talk of social networks. Not all communication needs to be profound.

People have been shallow since the beginning of time. This pointless rant is a useless as the photos it rails against. Everyone who upvoted it should be ashamed.