https://usurpatormag.com/MY-PHONE-IS-FOR-ME-BUT-IT-IS-ALSO-FOR-YOU

: Unsend button, removing likes, hiding apps, we're in the age of cowardice

: When I post a photo of myself, I’m compelled to stare at it repeatedly, to double-check exactly what it is that the others are seeing. Yet, I’m humiliated at the thought of someone else watching me perform this act of total self-absorption

: Lost in the pseudo-privacy of our phones, we forget that the boundaries between private and public are more blurred in the digital sphere than in the physical. A slip of the finger, an accidental like, hitting “post” instead of saving to drafts, any small mistake might propel our private thoughts into the collective domain

: Our brains are increasingly disoriented by the different rules of each platform

: Now, I hesitate every time I lurk, unfollow, mute, block, or Google someone I know. I start to second guess myself. What are the chances they’ll notice? The neuroticism of others has fed into my own.

: Recently, I’ve noticed a new pattern among Zoomers: to upload an Instagram post just to archive it immediately. Weeks, sometimes months later, they’ll unarchive the post so it can live on their profile free from the pressure of accruing likes or the harsh scrutiny of the main feed.

: We enjoy the internet in part because it provides a bigger space to manipulate our self-image, to curate our self-expression. The problem with this enlarged space is that it feeds into the delusion that we can, in fact, control it. With increased opportunity, it’s our nature to equally increase our obsession over how we present ourselves.

#qt