Breakfast Babble is ED’s own little space on the interwebs where we gather to discuss ideas and get pumped up (or not) for the day. We judge things, too. Sometimes. Always. Whatever, call it catharsis and join in, people.
Apparently, having fun is no longer enough. We need evidence. Preferably posted on social media, with a caption.
You could have the best night of your life, laugh until your stomach hurts, eat something incredible and come home happy.
But if there isn’t a slightly blurry picture of you holding a drink while looking away from the camera, did you even go out?
We have become witnesses in our own lives.
The moment something remotely enjoyable happens, the phone comes out.
Beautiful sunset? Picture.
Nice coffee? Picture.
Friends looking unusually good? “Wait, don’t touch anything.”
Food arrives? Nobody eats.
Everyone just sits there while one person photographs the fries from seventeen different angles, because apparently potatoes also need a personal branding strategy.
And concerts are a whole different level.
You finally get tickets to see your favourite artist. The lights go down. The singer walks on stage. Everyone screams.
And then 80 per cent of the audience immediately holds up a phone.
You are technically at the concert, but spiritually you are somewhere inside your camera roll.
The best part is what happens afterwards.
Read more: Breakfast Babble: Why Everyone Else’s Timeline Makes Us Feel Behind In Life
You come home, dump 46 photos into an album, choose three, reject seven because your face looks weird, edit one, crop another, search for the right song, write “core memory” and finally post it.
Congratulations. You can now officially enjoy the memory.
And I am absolutely not above this behaviour.
I have also looked at something beautiful and thought, “This would look so good on Instagram,” before actually appreciating it. At this point, Instagram has become a tiny voice in my head with a content calendar.
Even holidays have become suspiciously productive.
You don’t just go on vacation. You produce a vacation.
Airport outfit. Boarding pass. Window seat. Hotel room. Breakfast. Pool. Sunset. Dinner. Random door. Random staircase. Your feet next to the ocean for some reason.
Then comes the photo dump, with a caption suggesting you spontaneously wandered around Europe with no phone, no responsibilities and absolutely no awareness of the 200 pictures sitting in your gallery.
And let’s not even discuss birthdays.
One person blows out the candles while everyone else yells, “WAIT! DON’T CUT IT YET!”
Because apparently the cake has to be photographed before it can be eaten.
Maybe we’ve just become very committed archivists. Or maybe we have forgotten how to have a good time without immediately turning it into a receipt.
Because sometimes the funniest moments are the ones nobody photographed.
The joke you can’t recreate.
The terrible dance move nobody recorded.
The dinner where everyone’s phone mysteriously stayed in their bags.
The story that gets told five times because everyone keeps laughing at the same part.
Those moments don’t make it to Instagram.
And somehow, they’re usually the ones we remember.
Sources: Blogger’s own opinion
Find the blogger: @diptisadh
This post is tagged under: breakfast babble, social media, social media culture, Instagram, Gen Z, digital culture, social media habits, documenting experiences, internet culture
Disclaimer: We do not hold any copyright over any of the images used; these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly email us.
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