Yeah, same. I enjoyed them too. There was a part of me that wished it were me but then only in a sort of "aspirational" way rather than a negative, envious one.
The blog posts you linked to, Ollie, were really interesting. I'd not come across the term "image crafting" before although I've had lots of conversations about it (ie: Sarah and I have been to concerts with people that have felt a little average, then got home to find they've posted "BEST NIGHT EVER!!1!!!" style posts about it even though, at the time, they were kind of "Hmm, that was okayish" - which is definitely "Image Crafting"). I'm totally guilty of it myself sometimes I'm sure but it's hard not to get sucked in... I'm glad there's a term for it though - sounds silly but being able to define it helps put it into perspective a little more.
There's no doubt in my mind that social networking to the extent that I do it is completely, utterly unhealthy. But I also have so many examples of where social networking has led to making good friends and has been useful that I feel I can't leave it behind for fear of missing out (FOMO - the other curse of our age).
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The blog posts you linked to, Ollie, were really interesting. I'd not come across the term "image crafting" before although I've had lots of conversations about it (ie: Sarah and I have been to concerts with people that have felt a little average, then got home to find they've posted "BEST NIGHT EVER!!1!!!" style posts about it even though, at the time, they were kind of "Hmm, that was okayish" - which is definitely "Image Crafting"). I'm totally guilty of it myself sometimes I'm sure but it's hard not to get sucked in... I'm glad there's a term for it though - sounds silly but being able to define it helps put it into perspective a little more.
There's no doubt in my mind that social networking to the extent that I do it is completely, utterly unhealthy. But I also have so many examples of where social networking has led to making good friends and has been useful that I feel I can't leave it behind for fear of missing out (FOMO - the other curse of our age).