Compartmentalizing Life
There’s a tendency in the Western world to compartmentalize everything. Somehow we have this belief that it is possible to separate our professional, spiritual and personal life. I find myself in conflict over this very thing over and over again.
A recent online discussion about social networks brought this subject to mind once again. It made me ask myself: What is my purpose in joining social networks? Do I just want to connect with friends and family scattered around the globe or do I want to promote my photography? Is it possible to do both? How much is too much personal information to display online?
To add to the conflict, there was a report done on the terms of service of these social networking sites. A lot of these sites have really confusing terms of service regarding copyright and you have to be careful about posting your work there.
I remember many years ago (before Facebook) when I decided to cancel my “Myspace” account. My friend list was growing and it became harder and harder to keep things in their “compartments”. Strangers were asking to be my “friend”. If I said no to them, I was wasting the opportunity to promote my business and connect with people of like mind. If I accepted their request, then I would have to create a somewhat impersonal online profile in order not to feel exposed. I just chose not to deal with it at the time and cancelled the account.
Networking sites can be incredibly addicting and before you know it, you are wasting an absurd amount of time posting useless information about what you ate that day. I know a lot of photographers that use facebook (FB) and twitter solely for photography related news. I admire them and I appreciate reading their updates but I don’t connect with them as much. They either live and breathe photography or they are really good at keeping their personal lives private. I also know photographers that share personal information and seem to be okay with it. I have never met Zack Arias or had any personal contact with him but I know he recently had a beautiful baby. I know this because I read his blog and I’m a fan of his work on FB.
I have failed miserably at this compartmentalizing business. I tried to do it and this blog has just been neglected and boring. Everything in my life is overlapping each other at the moment and I think that’s how it will always be with me. I don’t know how to keep my faith separate from my photography. I don’t know how to not talk about what I ate if I’m really passionate about it. I might start to share a little more of my thoughts and feelings on this blog and that’s just how it is.
I don’t really have the answers but I’m not canceling my FB or Flickr just yet.
posted by RW at
1:54 PM
4 Comments:
Rosane, I love your work and I understand your feelings too. I have the same problem with my real estate business. I haven't become friends with associates on fb because I have so much personal information on there. I'm not sure I want to share that with them, I don't know why. I think social networking is actually blurring the lines between compartments in our lives. It's bringing people closer in a way that wasn't previously possible or feasible. I have a few friends I've met on facebook and I'm enjoying getting to know them. Actually I have some family in Argentina that I've recently met on facebook and I'm getting to know. It is a phenomenom I am getting used to. I hardly remember my life without it, and that's kind of scary because it's only been a few months. I think compartments may be disappearing as we know them. Our world is becoming ultra-super-connected.
My answer so far has been to use FB exclusively for family and friends. I haven't "friended" a single coworker. That doesn't mean I don't consider them friends, but I still worry that they would think of me as being "unprofessional" if they read about certain personal stuff: compartmentalization. That's not without its own conflict. There's still the question of how much personal info one should post. My younger cousins can read my comments about my drunken friends pictures, and it doesn't take that many clicks for them to get there. I still wanna try and set an example to them. Oh, God... and I've lost count of how many times I've clicked "share" only to come back the next day and think, "WHY did I post that?!" In a way, it's exciting, because we're all part of this huge social experiment that has never taken place on such a massive scale. I've never been too fond about compartmentalizing life. It's something I had to learn when I came to the US. Maybe sites like FB will help us all loosen up a bit. My guess is that those who keep to themselves in real life, will also do so on FB. Those who can't seem to keep their ideas to themselves, will blurt them out online. I'm afraid I fall into the latter category. Oops, did I just divide everyone into two groups? :P
Rosane - I'm so glad you found my site and left a comment. I really like this post - it asks the important questions about how we use social networks to keep up with our tribes, and the value in the online vs. offline. I'll be reading more of your blog to see your thoughts.
@sloane
Thank you for the comments! It's good to know I'm not the only one with these conflicts. Looking forward to exchanging more ideas with you guys.
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