instablog

The other night Jessica and I were hanging out and instagram came up. I mentioned to her that the reason why I like instagram is because it looks like what I want my social media experience to look like. If I were to have a "do-over" with facebook I'm sure that it would look a little different for me, which is to say that certain people wouldn't show up so much on my homepage. I like instagram so much because I'm so selective about who I follow. I do this because I don't need to see how much one person loves another person every day. I'm glad, but that's just not something that needs to go into my head, because it makes me feel lonely. That, I'm sure, says more about me than you.

But why bring up instagram at all? Well lately I've been wanting to take a picture, throw a "retro" filter on it, and write a witty caption. But I find myself not interested in doing that. For example: this evening the moon was out, and it was making a statement. It wanted to be felt. It was a pale blue, larger than you could believe, and was forcing itself onto the coming evening. 

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. But who's words? If you are looking at a picture I took, are they my thousand or yours? Or perhaps someone else? Or maybe five hundred of mine, five hundred of yours. I think that if you are looking at my picture you are thinking all your own words. You're thinking about how pretty it is, how hungry it makes you, how much you want some pie, about why I took that picture of myself, et cetera. But you are thinking your words.

I wanted to take that picture of the moon because it was making me feel things, and I wanted to communicate those feelings. And I didn't take the picture of the moon because no instagram photo, facebook status, tweet, letter, phone call, or text could convey the moment. Nothing short of being there with me could do that. I wanted to share that moment in it's entirety with someone and I don't think there's any other way to do that other than being present. I don't think that there will ever be a way to share the kinds of feelings you experience in a moment through radio waves, phone lines, or the internet.

While I was thinking about this I was trying to come up with a conclusion, because that's what I've been taught to do. And I couldn't really think of one. I wanna be with someone? Well, yeah, but that's already known by anyone who: 1. Knows me, and: 2. Is a person who also wants to be with someone. A post on the evils of technology and their inability to communicate the human experience? I suppose that's what it's turned into, but I didn't want it to feel like that.

So I don't know how to conclude this. Enjoy other people? If you get the chance to look at the moon, do it? Don't get your feelings hurt if I don't follow you on some form of social media? Yeah, I think those work.

Luke
luketlancaster@gmail.com