Like we’ve been told, a picture speaks a thousand words. We’re trying to say a lot through these selfies of ours. And true, as far as they do signify our obsession with ourselves, narcissicism isn’t what our selfies really mean. With every picture posted, there is a scouring for likes and elation at the comments recieved. It’s the public opinion of us that matters , but only as long as it’s all superficial.

We’ll post everything we’re thinking , but nothing we’re thinking too deep down inside. Nothing remotely reflective. A surface-level existence is what we’d like to swear by and there is a sense of detachment from the world that we’re quite happy to maintain. Because this way, you get to decide absolutely what side of yourself you want to show the society. Not a true representation of who your self but a carefully constructed selfie version.

Unwanted representation will not be tolerated. We’ll untag candid photos, so no one gets to see the spontaneity of our being. Misinterpretation will be avoided. Every text sent is a carefully planned out sentence, right down to the the perfect emojis, just to be safe. Not one smiley too many. In real life we’d be laughing over nothing, but online you can LMFAO with a perfectly straight face without even finding the joke funny. Yet, we never back down in our attempt at humour even while sexting, ‘I like u :P’. Hell, even our declarations of love are sent as jokes. Vulnerability is a luxury you really can’t afford.

And we have a chronic fear of missing out, so much so, that it has it’s own abbreviation, FOMO. But what about people missing out on you. What about the side of you that you’ve meticulously chosen to keep private and untag yourself from. Are you really what society defines you as (on the basis of what you choose to show them?). Let’s not forget that we’re only showing them what they want to see. Let’s just stick to what’s trending. Isn't society interrupting our sense of self and being and our own opinion of what we are- because to keep a solid opinion of what you truly are, you need to the time to reflect on it. But, the sense of introspection and self-learning is lost, sometimes completely to the fear of missing out.

The question of who you are is not answered by the comments on your instagram feed. Every profile picture only projects the aspirational qualities of who you wish to be. Sure, our instagram feed is breathtakingly beautiful, but our reality is sour. The monochrome black and white filters sure do make us look angelic, yet the colours of life and your 50 shades of grey are hidden to the world. They’re internalised and suppressed to a point where, before we know it, they’re taking us over, turning us into the very anti-thesis of the picture prefect image we’re trying to upload to the wide web of the world, when at last we’re breaking down and shattering under the pressure of this facade that we’ve built.

‘Selfie’ is the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year, and the self is pushed somewhere to the back, in the void of obscurity, because, obviously the entire magnitude of a human’s thoughts can be encapsulated into 140 characters and you are no more than what you tweet.