He might as well have said "modern western culture," from where I sit. All the details about the corrosive effects of social media, health consequences of loneliness, and relation between physical/emotional pain are pretty fascinating though.
I don't really have any close friends, and I don't really have a center right now, so my Fridays are unnecessarily stressful and I have to go and rewatch How To Be Alone to try to feel better. Last night I fell asleep thinking about going to a cafe today and using Facebook targeted ads to tell people within a 1 mile radius that I've been feeling really bad and needed a hug. Imagine that showing up on your newsfeed, haha.
Some thoughts I remember having:
- What would I put as the meta-image and meta-description of the Facebook advertisement?
- Would it be a boosted post or a carousel ad of multiple images?
- Would it go cheesy and viral and make me known as the lonely Alaskan guy?
- Is it actually embarrassing or a bold political statement?
- What would I even say to someone? Should I wrap the whole thing under the guise of "social experiment"?
- Would Facebook even approve the ad?
Whatever. I'm feeling shitty, but I'm not actually ballsy enough to do it. I wish I brought some ibuprophen with me to work, because that also helps with social pain. I usually take two before applying to jobs or cold-calling or OkCupiding.
Reading this article made me realize I don't give a shit about the causes. I'm not at that birds-eye level I was in college, where I could quote Bowling Alone and speak about the topic like I wasn't an undergraduate. Social pain hurts like a motherfucker.