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The “Me” in Social Media | Briella Payami | TEDxYouth@UCVTS


social media it’s become so prevalent

that it’s a part of our everyday lives

it’s how we consider our family and

friends are up to get caught up on the

names trends and even give others a

glimpse into our own lives however

social media has started to grow past

its platforms in fact it’s starting to

influence both individuals and the

dynamic of society alike the trends and

attitudes that we see on social media

are translated to reality in the world

around us social media Foster’s this

boastful and materialistic attitude that

has restructured society to lack

humility social media has brought a

multitude of changes within the last

decade alone it’s brought the creation

of new words such as selfie and hashtag

and another expression you may have

heard of humble brag the dictionary and

yes an actual dictionary defines humble

bragging is making a seemingly modest

self-critical statement with the actual

intention of drawing attention to

yourself

so this tactic is used to subtly brag

about something through either a casual

or self-critical statement and this

isn’t just a social media term but it

also applies to our day-to-day

interactions in our daily social life

you may know a friend who has perfected

the art of the humble brag my personal

favorite example that I came across

during my research with this I can’t

believe I just ate 15 pieces of

chocolate I gotta learn to control

myself in flying first class or they’ll

cancel my modeling contract social media

is used as an opportunity to show others

where we are what we have and what we’re

doing it’s come to the point where it no

longer stands to give people glimpse

into our normal everyday lives but

rather it’s this platform where we

portray this flawless image of ourselves

and try and flaunt our best people

always make sure that they post their

best angles their newest accomplishment

or anything that makes their lives look

impressive or exciting the reality is

that this does not only apply to social

media but rather it reflects

the materialistic and self-centered

attitude that this society revolves

around the standard of success directly

relies directly the rise upon what job

you have what your house looks like what

car you drive a clothing you wear and

really how much money you have all these

things fall into the category of

materialistic pursuits materialism is

putting the emphasis on physical things

and the pursuit of material items above

all else and unfortunately there are so

many that fall victim to this trap

people become so driven by wanting nice

things that they let it consume their

lives and it takes precedence over the

more important things we live in what is

commonly called a me first society where

people are so focused on getting ahead

that they become wrapped up in

themselves and in their own lives and

they lose import the sight of the more

important things because we live in a

smooth meat for a society people often

forget other aspects and virtues in

their lives including humility humility

can be defined as a modest or low view

of one’s own importance but anyone can

look up what humility means in a

dictionary so then what’s his humility

really mean humility means thinking of

others first putting their needs ahead

of your own

humility means not drawing undue

attention to yourself and admitting when

you’re wrong humility means doing things

for Owen sense of pride and not for the

praise it brings from others however

humility also means hard work being

humble isn’t something that comes

naturally to us and honestly it’s just

easier to fall into the habit of are

prideful ways it takes effort on our

part to try and be humble

however since were little we’re always

so proud of our accomplishments and

we’re even quicker to try and show them

off think back to when you’re first

learning to ride a bike you get on the

bike your hands on the handlebar you

start pedaling down the street all of a

sudden you got it you’re doing it on

your own I’m guessing you cried out

something along the lines of look mom

I’m doing it and you were probably

instant

appraised when we’re little we seek the

approval of those around us and we look

towards their parents and our family and

our friends to cheer us on and they do

that for us

but at some point we need a more

realistic view of this we can’t do

continue to seek adoration and do things

simply for praise

therefore humility is not a treat that

is instinctively instilled within us and

it’s something we have to work hard at

to develop so what’s the point if

humility is such a difficult quality to

obtain and reflects why try to obtain it

isn’t necessary to our lives or doesn’t

make us any more successful or happy

there was this ancient Greek philosopher

Epicurus who is well known for his views

and theory on happiness

Epicurus believed in order to achieve

the state of complete pleasure you had

to be prat you had a practice being

content with the simple thing is life

that would mean abstaining from

unnecessary desires and the pursuit of

material things

Epicurus believed by only having the

bare necessities of food shelter

clothing and then your family thoughts

and freedom you would be happiest now

let’s be real for a moment to live in

this sort of way especially with the

demands of society would be a pretty

daunting task in fact I’ve spoken from

some of my friends and my peers and even

some adults and they felt a vote a

Pickers philosophy sounded good it would

be pretty impossible to live by to live

in this sort of way it would be pretty

difficult especially in a society that

is so dependent on an image of success

measured by wealth so this got me

thinking of a more practical application

of Epicurus philosophy because according

to Epicurus having them living a

simplistic life is what brings happiness

perhaps by only having the mindset of

simplicity can be happy there’s nothing

wrong with having material things are

nice objects but if the mindset you have

about it and the way you go about acting

by choosing to have the mind

active humility you will enjoy the

rewards of a simple life and find

yourself being happier the palm doesn’t

lie and having nice things in itself

it’s the constant need to flaunt it

spend the time to examine the motive

behind what you’re buying are you

purchasing that new item because you

personally want it and you can’t wait to

use it or is it because you want others

to know that you have it and you can’t

wait to show it off

you can demonstrate humility by not

going out of your way to show off your

newest buy there’s no need to brag about

it the next time you see your friends or

to immediately rush onto social media to

post a picture to flaunt it another

question you can ask yourself is do I

need this or do I just want it do you

really need the latest iPhone or do you

just want your family and friends to be

able to see that you have it a boastful

attitude can also be off-putting to

others so by being humble you can others

will feel more at ease around you and

they won’t feel the need to have to

impress you all the time they’ll also

perceive you as being more genuine your

friend should like you for who you are

not for what you have so by being humble

people so by being humble people will

feel more at ease around you and they’ll

really enjoy being your friends success

by society standards is measured by what

we have and what we do but do you really

want to let that define who you are the

pursuit of material things take away

from the more important things in life

so just family and friends that can make

us happy Colt evading humility is what

is needed in this materialistic and

self-centered world in which we live in

if even just one person leaves this

event today and continues to think about

humility I’d have to say is humbly as I

can that I did a good job because if

each person could just be a little more

mindful about being humble the world

would be a much happier place being

humble allows you to see past yourself

in your own needs

the needs of others because humility

isn’t thinking less of yourself it’s

thinking of yourself less thank you [Applause]

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