He's 22ish, and from the seat before me I can smell the apathy dripping off of him. I'm not old (yet) but there seems to be a disconnect through the decade of age between us. He's trying to be subversive, casual cool...but in his eyes I can see something I don't like.
He's interviewing for a job, and he doesn't give a damn if he gets it or not...so why waste my time? Why waste his own time? Are we at a crux where people no longer care about the value of time?
Sort of...
Because in his eyes I see that his interactions are regulated to 180 characters or less, simple frozen moments of status updates and tweets...pictures that were taken to show exactly how much fun he was having 32 seconds ago, even if he wasn't enjoying himself at all. It's the Facebook Generation. They scan your conversations and interactions for that zinger to post in a minute. I don't think they know they're doing it, but they are subconsciously diciphering what to share.
I remember in high school the subtle shows people put on...the posturing they did to appear tougher, cooler, et al. I knew them then as posers...and this new generation of Facebook Posturing seems to be allowing this show even more so, because there isn't the day-to-day reality of proving oneself. I fully believe in self invention, of making yourself something better...but really, there's a huge difference between actually reinventing yourself as something better andposting pictures of yourself and your "terrific life" while hiding behind the computer.
The problem with posturing on facebook is that if you're never responsible for who you claim to be, you never actually live. You can post all day long...and update status of every benign, uninteresting facet of your life...but until you have to be responsible for the person you're claiming to be, you never actually live up to the potential.
We're digital, I get that...it's the trajectory we're on and it's not going away. There's a lot to be said about the digital life, a lot of great things, one of which is the ability to connect with you, to connect with my family members spread far and wide. But if all I am living is the digital life, I am just a poser, just like the obnoxious guy in High School that couldn't fight if his life depended on it, but struts around and hopes no one challenges him.
As for Mr. Apathetic, he's not getting the job. He won't care...and later he'll probably post on FB that some corporate bitch (me) isn't open minded enough to see his brilliance. 29 people will comment below him re: the 1%, corporate culture sucks, how bourgeois the workplace is anyhow, etc, etc. He will forget about it as soon as the status is too far down the page to care about it...which is, what, like...an hour?
The generation that naturally reaches for their smart phones to update facebook don't yet realize that they have no privacy, that nothing is sacred. Maybe they don't yet care...but they will eventually. And if they say they don't care...they're lying. It's part of being a poser.
Skeptically yours.
