You like watching me.
You like knowing that I’m up and my hair is in a ponytail and I’m wearing a pink tank top that has “Drop It Like A Squat” written on it from my Instagram selfie. You like knowing that I burned 403 calories during my run from my screenshot post. You like finding out that I ran in a different park today from my caption that says I liked the new trail. You like watching me make breakfast, you know that I’m craving something other than my usual overnight oats today. You like it that I like my omelets well-cooked – all from my live Periscope.
You know what I’m wearing to work today from my #ootdselfie. You know that I had a bad day, I’ve been live-Tweeting all day about how my boss is an old grumpus. You tut-tut at my boyfriend, he is supposed to have been by my side, right? My relationship status change on Facebook tells you that he is not. That jackass. My sad Snapchat face breaks your heart and you save a couple of screenshots to savor my pretty pout at a later date. You look up my number on TrueCaller and ping me on Whatsapp, telling me not to lose heart, that life has better things in store for me. I ask you who you are. You tell me you are an ardent fan. That you are a connoisseur of my life. I’m only a little creeped out, but a lot flattered. You lol text me at my Twitter joke and tell me that my new blog post is very interesting and that you like three of the five songs I posted.
You find out about my dog from my Whatsapp profile picture. You wait till my last seen changes to online and then offer your condolences. You get a kick out of seeing typing...You also offer a little feng shui advice – that table I keep by the entrance and my second shoe rack with my formal shoes on it might be blocking the positive energy from entering the house. You tell me that I should probably move the shoe rack into my coat closet and put that table by the window and use it as a breakfast table during the week and a tricep dipper during my weekend bodyweight workouts. It might also be a good place to hang the new gold-trim mirror I bought last month and will most certainly get my mother off my back for she is always stubbing her toe at the table when it is near the door – welcome positive energy and better utilization of space, right?
I’m grateful for the advice but I’m struck by realization.
All at once, it terrifies me how much you know about me without ever having met me. And I don’t even know your name.
P.S: Such BIG parts of our lives are online today. The possible complete lack of secrets terrifies me.
Yep. Interestingly enough, though, when I meet really good online friends offline, I STILL have tons to discuss with them, so I suppose it matters on the nature of the friendship too. How many of those online friends are really friends or just acquaintances is food for thought.
ReplyDeleteNo Shy, I was focusing on the "we are so stalkable these days" side of the story...
Deletethere is difference between privacy and secrets.privacy is something related to what has to be public and private and it depends on how civilized a person is.secrets are something related to one's defective personality.i think a person with transparency is better to live with than a person with secrets.a person with secrets is always a risk to live life happily ever after.
ReplyDeletestalking online hmm,people who wants to spend quality time online to interact on intellect basis and people who just go after people for fun are two personalities you find in cyber world.i go through lots of blogs and write comments as anonymous when i like to comment.i don't call it stalking but just going through stuff whether i can find genuine posts to contribute or to add some stuff.people should not worry as long as they know what they are made up of coz nothing can harm them.
i think people became too superficial with facebook and whatsapp, i can never lead such life with updates on everything on social media.selfies are big turn off,whenever i go to multiplexes and restaurants,people just can't stop taking selfies,its really like how anyone with substance can behave such way.what i feel is,people are missing real or genuine life big time .i never had friends who are into selfies and i can never get along with superficial people.at the end of the day,life outside is more interesting than virtual world and we can read people when they write quality stuff on blogs whether they have lived real or they did live in cocoon of books and web.
I agree. Is there a way anybody could avoid stalking or being stalking when things are being shoved under our noses for us to see?!
ReplyDeleteDoes it even count as stalking?! I have been thinking on similar lines the past few days.
Thanks for putting this up right after Halloween just when I am getting used to living alone. Brrrrrrr....
ReplyDeleteGirl, I hear you. So much of what we put of ourselves online may not be as innocent as intended too. I think we've all developed the need for "support. Not from real life friends and acquaintances, but we get some satisfaction in knowing that "someone out there supports you and cheers you on". It still freaks me out though.
ReplyDeleteSo true. We are all obsessed with posting every single detail online that a day has now begun to feel incomplete if we don't. 'Stalking' a person has turned too easy, and everyone (including me) should be going offline more often.
ReplyDeleteI think its a natural progression considering we live out most our days connected to to the internet. The only way out is maybe to go old school and share nothing or go offline.
ReplyDeleteAlso, can what you describe in the post really be counted as Stalking given it is us who put it out for the virtual world to see?
Unrelated Pro tip : If you ever face a hard drive crash, contact the CIA or the NSA - they have everyone's files :P :D
That is so true.. Almost everything is accessible to everyone.. and Privacy is merely an illusion I suppose..
ReplyDeleteThe range of your thoughts in this post is commendable!
Cheers