The Relevance of Irrelevancy
Photo by Benjamin Teoh
Error 404: Can’t seem to find the relation. (Source: Google)
#ootd
#throwbackthursday
#exposingmylifegreatlyalthoughimnotacelebrity
Do these hashtags ring a bell? They should. In 2016, an astounding 85 million videos and pictures were posted on Instagram in a single day! (Don't believe us? Check out the statistics yourself!) So, what does this mean? Are our lives deserving of the spotlight? Is it relevant for everyone to know what we are doing? Does this mean that we are so greatly in need of being acknowledged by everyone around us?
The evolution of technology is often taken for granted. Yet, social media and the transformation of our global reach has widened our opportunities to technologically reach out to people. In turn, this allows us to share stories, spread knowledge and perhaps (the mother load of it all) to showcase the trivialities our daily life. In a way, social media has helped to transform a seemingly mundane activity to something ostensibly worth knowing.
Take celebrities: once the larger-than-life figures of media, their lives were the crème de la crème. As such, the public was genuinely interested with them due to the barriers drawn between their lives and their own. However, it seems as though everyone now is trying to embrace the limelight by becoming mini-celebrities in their own right, confident in their belief that their every step deserves the spotlight. A new outfit seemingly deserves a post, trying on clothes in the fitting room seemingly deserves an #ootd, and of course, those “look-how-rich-I-am” show-off posts. At this point in time, we have to ask ourselves: how is it that the irrelevant lives of everyday people are becoming relevant in the eyes of society?
The idea that one tries hard to prove the relevancy of their lives in the public eye shows an unlikely evolutionary statement: my life matters. True, it is fun to share the little bits of our life, but is there a line dividing inspirational and egoistic? In my opinion, the answer is no. It seems as if this current trend of oversharing is almost always done by irrelevant people who try hard to stay relevant for their own egotistical needs.
Borderline Vain. Borderline Narcissist. (Source: Google)
Me time is “me” time for a reason. (Source: Google)
The nature of relevancy became an issue in the past couple of years with the boom of social media. Truth be told, the relevancy of an irrelevant individual is significantly categorised by their presence on online media. They snap pictures, post videos, and capture their seemingly twisted ideologies as captions. Now, more than ever before, their online statements are those unnecessarily voiced out, including those which arguably shouldn't even have left their little, closed minds. This idea applies to those who aren't exactly linked with the status of “celebrity” or even “public figure.” Instead, they are wannabes, trying to categorise themselves as influencers. These influencers have gained a reputation for doing something totally out of the ordinary: being posers.
It starts out with the one post. But soon it is doubled and tripled with all posts that are (admittedly) fun at times, but downright plain ridiculous the next. For example, some of these posers are so possessed with the idea of branding their looks that a picture captioned ‘food’ warrants a smug shot of their face, hovering above the delicious spread. Some people are just blinded by the idea that trying to be relevant is to put your life centre-stage, in every single form possible. This obsession is documented across all kinds of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other apps like Swarmapp. Twitter yearns for users to insignificantly post their mind's sly thinking and Swarmapp even allow for one's location to be posted openly, unbeknownst to them that very little people actually take into account of their whereabouts or even care to follow in their footsteps, so to speak.
At this point, you start to ask yourself, what is up with this trend to “show off?” Is being ‘social media famous’ just as cool as being celebrity famous? Today, being acknowledged is as important as it is for one’s existence and the platforms provided are also effective in portraying lives in the most unorthodox way possible.
To put things into perspective, some celebrities whose lives are primarily relevant due to their presence in public abide by careful patterns of postings on social media. Nothing is over the top, nothing is intended for ostensibly showing off, and nothing is done so vaguely. They keep up their social status with normal posts that relay their activity to the public sporadically. For them, it is to feed their fans with their current activities they are going through or even upcoming events as a form of PR. Some of these celebrities are those such as Chrissy Teigen or even Kendall Jenner. But for every celebrity social media enthusiast, they are just as many who refuse to hop onto the bandwagon, like Jennifer Lawrence and Daniel Radcliffe. Both celebrities notably questioned the usage of social media and the need to tell the whole world of their activities. So with that said, if stars of their caliber are against the idea of social media, what makes a less relevant person's social media presence worthy?
Perhaps that’s a touch harsh. So for the ones who insist that their existence on social media is relevant, here are some ways with which to ensure that your presence online is welcomed: Relevant postings are fine, irrelevant postings are not. Showcasing activity is fine, showcasing you with your irrelevant activities are not. Essentially, screaming for attention will get you attention… but probably not the kind of positive attention you were hoping for.
It is of course the level of relevancy that brings up an irrelevant individual. So, what does it take to be considered relevant? Build a platform and build it the right way. Your interpretation of yourself matters a lot in the public eye. And sometimes, there’s just more fun in the mystery. The embodiment of relevance lies in how you humbly present yourself to the public. So the next time you think about posting a picture… perhaps ponder it twice.