Everyone on the Internet ⇝

Thoughtful piece by Timothy Clem on how we choose to craft the stories of our lives online:

My favorite hashtag by far is #nofilter. It’s the dichotomy of needing to communicate that No really! It looks exactly like this, with the wonderful truth that the existence of the photo is a very strategic filter on how you want the world to perceive your life. And to top off the irony, you make sure to connect said directed experience with every other #nofilter going on in the world at that moment. Brilliant!

And later:

And yet, I secretly revel in the experiences that I don’t share. The moments that happen off the grid. I go out of my way sometimes to not record and not broadcast.

I'm reminded of Captain Miller, sharing stories with Private Ryan trying to escape their battlefield reality:

Private Ryan: Tell me about your wife and those rosebushes?
Captain Miller: No, no that one I save just for me.