I suddenly had this thought the other day as I was on social media… Narcissus would be proud! In my research for my books, I do a lot of analysis on cultural mythologies. Right now I’m heavily researching Greek and Persian mythologies for my storyline…well, a skeleton of the storyline really. But the thought of Narcissus came crashing into my head out of nowhere.
In case you don’t know who Narcissus was from Greek Mythology let me define him for you. Narcissus was born in Thespiae in Boeotia, the son of Cephissus (the personification of the Boeotian river of the same name) and the nymph Liriope. His mother was warned one day by the seer Teiresias that her son would live a long life as long as ‘he never knows himself.’ As he reached his teenage years, the handsome youth never found anyone that could pull his heartstrings, indeed, he left in his wake a long trail of distressed and broken-hearted maidens, and one or two young men fell by the wayside too. Then, one day, he chanced to see his own reflection in a pool of water and, thus, discovered the ultimate in unrequited love and fell in love with himself. Naturally, this one-way relationship went nowhere, and Narcissus, unable to draw himself away from the pool, pined away in despair until he finally died of thirst and starvation. Immortality, at least of a kind, was assured, though, when his corpse (or in some versions the blood from his self-inflicted stab wound) turned into the flowers which, thereafter, bore his name. (source: https://www.ancient.eu/Narcissus/)
Why do I say that Narcissus would be proud? Because the overwhelming mass of social media goers think the world wants to see and experience every moment of their lives. It is about them… their beauty, their opinions, their food they are eating at every moment of the day. Granted, some time is devoted to cat videos and babies doing funny things that we used to only be able to relay via tale before the internet. Self-involvement is the hallmark of social media. It is the ‘selfie’ repository, and that is precisely what Narcissus would be so pleased with, our unending need to take pictures of ourselves and show the world. How many of us carried around a large stack of pictures of ourselves in our wallet or purse before digital pictures were a thing?
Social media does some good, I do admit. It helps to get the word out in emergencies, helps us keep in touch with people across massive distances, and sites/apps like iFunny give you a laugh whenever you need it. Still, the majority of the time people are talking about themselves, and not listening to others. This is the largest innocent bystander in the process…Soft Skills. The art of listening to our elders, interacting with people on a personal level, and truly getting to know someone takes time. These are not something social media is disposed to provide unless you specifically go after those things yourself. Please do not lose those wonderful personable soft skills that make us all human and refrain from becoming just a selfie on the touchscreen.