Limit In Social Media: When The Intimate Becomes Public

Nowadays, it is common for people to share intimate things for the world to see. Almost without knowing it, we have all become daily visitors to other people’s lives. On a daily basis, lots of people publish everything they do on social media. This can be called extremity, which is when private information becomes public. In the reality we live in today, extremism in social media is extremely prevalent. It is something that completely changes people’s way of understanding the world.

Today, it is very easy to log in to your preferred social media and post impulses or thoughts you have just come up with, what you eat for breakfast or the music you are listening to right now. If everyone does, why would not you ? New technology has built a common and shared sphere, where everyone is their own gallery owners.

Sharing or publishing private information is not just a way to create a community with others who also do it. Making your privacy public makes you visible and gives you a presence in a technical and digital scenario; something that has become incredibly popular in recent years, especially among young people.

The extremity we see in social media is here to stay. Below we will talk a little more about the concept; what it is about and why it is so common.

What is extremity and how does it manifest itself in social media?

The word extremity was coined by the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. For him, this concept represented a state in which people define themselves by presenting various intimate areas that are meaningful only in the external world. For example, the unconscious is an inner mental state that constantly works to externalize itself.

The French psychiatrist Serge Tisseron took Lacan’s term and applied it to today’s modernity. In today’s reality, playfulness is not a state, but a process in which new technology drives individuals to show some of their private lives to the public space (especially in the digital world). Does this mean that people have become exhibitionists?

Not really. In reality, everyone chooses what they want to show and often post things that are not even real. Individuals are selective when choosing what to publish. In fact, we choose how, when and where to show it. Remember that people are not what they show on social media.

Sublimity in social media: a resource for achieving true relationships

We all like to see what others are doing. We are curious to look at the everyday lives of others to discover, see, understand, long, admire, learn and even envy. But we also like to really feel the feelings of others. Extrimity is an ideal resource for creating an emotional impact on the observer, on the one who uses a screen to enter other people’s worlds.

Big brands, network gurus and Instagram users know that a good way to attract followers is to let other people into their privacy. Today, everyone has learned this. As a result, more and more people are making efforts to reveal intimate parts of their lives to their followers. Another big reason for doing this is that it creates empathy, which makes it possible to relate to them in a way.

Remember, however, that extremity often goes hand in hand with falsehood. For the most part, you do not see the reality of others, but you see what they decide to show, and how they want to represent themselves.

Share private aspects to make yourself visible

The digital scene, networks and social media form a parallel reality. Mobile phones, emails, chats and messaging systems are means by which people want to establish a presence. To do this, they must exercise extremity.

Making your private life public places you in an alternative world where you can create a new self and be who you want to be. Many people feel that they are missing out on something when they do not indulge in virtual socialization.

Ultimacy and fixation on the immediate

We can now define extremity with a very special characteristic; immediacy. Have breakfast with my partner. On the way to work. Meditate . It only takes a few seconds to go on social media and see what people do right there and then. That’s what matters most. What happened yesterday is now irrelevant.

At present, most of us long to consume or see exactly what is happening right now.

The stolen integrity or intimacy that we reveal without even knowing it

Most of us post photos, videos, ideas and thoughts on a voluntary basis. In other words, we publish all small parts of our private universe in a conscious but filtered way. Sometimes, however, we overlook the fact that there is another type of camouflaged extremity.

Smartphones, tablets and laptops have cameras and microphones. The apps you use and the social networks you sign up for have algorithms and bots that analyze everything you do in these digital worlds. Believe it or not, you are observed, listened to and analyzed.

Your privacy will be disclosed due to the technology that aims to collect as much information about you as possible in order to sell it to large companies. In other words, your private information is not only published but also marketed.

In short, we have reached a point where the intimate and the public have become extremely mixed, which is risky if you think about it. Remember this and reflect on the extent to which extremity benefits or harms you.