A poetic meditation on existence

One cannot be expected to march full-bore into an interpersonal relationship based on no common ground. How ill-advised would that be? The issue, however, lies with the fact that where shared obstacles and interests might be enough material to last the star-crossed lovers and hetero life mates of the carefully edited and encapsulated multiverse of film, literature, and story for the brief entirety of their public lives, the real world is rarely so dynamic or exciting. There are gaps and valleys in the everyday minutiae that cannot be filled in with erudite banter about the oeuvre of post-rock and postmodernism. Even before the initial shine fades, relationships—real relationships—consist mainly of long stretches of dull, prosaic moments that can be traversed only by a wearied, begrudging, and ultimately loving acceptance of the very real human being opposite you. Once the great screaming fights happen—and they will assuredly happen—one cannot simply hold up a boom box, blast Peter Gabriel, and make everything better. Relationships, friendships—even ones that take place predominantly online—these are things which require a fathomless connection and understanding in order to expand beyond anything superficial, and to acquire those things one must first dig deep beyond the marrow and expose oneself. But in an overly self-aware culture where nothing is sacred and everything is ridiculed, the prospect of being willingly vulnerable is terrifying. There is a palpable risk here of being hurt, of having the fundamental you-ness be weighed and measured and found wanting, whether by complete strangers or people you could see yourself loving, and it becomes so much easier to, in a sense, not be a real person—to simply be a series of likes and dislikes and perfunctory information; a picture attached to a blog which says nothing, reveals nothing; to be a ghost in the machine of the world.

Phil Roland Love In The Time Of Tumblr « Thought Catalog 
An extremely well-written discussion of identity, internet, performance and relationships in the age of Tumblr (via wambamashleyanne)

- Brilliant read. I’ve been having a few conversations with various people on this topic lately. I’d like to add more but I’m afraid I’m just the sort of person the author is talking about. However, I don’t think it’s driven by efficiency and a desire to do away with the trivialities of small talk in every case, confidence plays a big part and the internet can be a horrible, caustic, scathing place so as a result many people prefer to play the safer card of regurgitating somebody else’s thoughts to reflect their own.

Kind of similar to the way businessmen form companies in order to reduce personal liability and indemnity, a huge number of bloggers operate vicariously through others to avoid personal attacks on their original thought. The self-image of many people in the 21st century is incredibly fragile and the internet provides a great deal of validation simply by connecting people with like-minded people, which is great but addictive and can eventually make any form of online criticism all the more damaging.