Topped by a delicious dinner, a day of fun activities eventually brought me and my girlfriend back to our hotel room to relax and enjoy the rest of the night. Suddenly, we overheard stomping, huffing, and puffing from the room adjacent to us. Then, a woman screamed:

“You know we’re just here to make Facebook look cool!”

(In the heat of the moment: I’m sure she meant that they were trying to look cool on Facebook.)

We discovered two basic things:

1. For some reason, the man had left her at a bar without telling her
2. The woman was very angry about this — and loud

While the exchange between these two lovebirds proved entertaining, it has also made us realize how tired we were. Two phone calls later, the disruptive guests were warned and ultimately ejected from the hotel. (/r/JusticePorn/ might be proud).

“Take off your shoes, and be a man!” was one of the many statements she passionately yelled.

Sadly, the idea that we want to seem better than we are seems all too common. Have you witnessed a situation where it seems like the documentation of the event is more important than the event itself?

If you answered no, please invite me to your cave. I promise I won’t tweet about it.

How “better” am I than the person who enjoys the guilty pleasure of a reality show? The newsfeed on Facebook has, in a sense, become a TMZ of people I’ve met over the years: frustrating opinions, candid photos, posed pics, embarrassing gossip. No judgement here: I’m involved in this, too. But if I remove myself completely, then I’ll just be one of “those” people — perhaps too cool or too timid to engage with everyone else. High school will never end.

Ultimately, we may think that it doesn’t matter what other people think. However, if it isn’t already, social media is becoming an ancillary job requirement. Sharing our daily lives across online platforms impacts talent acquisition and job retention. It won’t be long until our annual reviews will contain a “social engagement” section.

“You stack blocks really well, but could you manage to mention more of this on Tumbfacetwigoplus? Please be a team player next year. Promotion: denied.”

As it seems to be, the truth of the social media vs real-life debate probably lay between the two extremes: Don’t share that picture of your wife’s placental sac, but don’t hide away off the grid in a creepy mountain cabin. There’s a time and place for picking up the phone to talk about that tasty burger, and with patience, we can figure out what works best. Select the right online mediums for you (or don’t). Just live life.

Yesterday, I agonized on LiveJournal. Today, I express on Medium. Tomorrow?

I better go ask on all my networks find out.