Thinking out loud: PLEASE AUTHENTICATE MY EXISTENCE!!!

This may read like an accusatory letter to you but it is more panic-induced textual diarrhoea...

I had to yell that out to you to fully express the desperation, the intrinsic expedition for public approval – as inspired by an article on the guardian website by Charlie Brooker who has the phrase, "PLEASE AUTHENTICATE MY EXISTENCE!" stuck in my head.

No, really, think about it. Is every dialogue a plea for endorsement? We.Need.Help!

Every time I watch a video on YouTube or go on a website such as the Guardian or Daily Mail (I am not admitting that I visit this website a lot, but sometimes... I do...), it is always a vital part of the scopophilic process to go to the comments to see the audience reaction to whatever post I am reading. It is a spectrum of colourful representations- the angry commenter, the awe-struck fan, the indifferent, the instigator and the ‘X celebrity brought me here!’ It reads like a very bad novel. There is the person who needs to stand out via the randomness of their comment (sometimes, knee-slappingly hilarious, other times it deserves a lowercase ‘lol’ with no expression on your face). What has become increasingly clear after reading today’s article is this:

“The internet is a bit like a soap opera, in that the dialogue often seems phoney. As a human, you know this. You know a lot of that squabbling and babbling just doesn't ring true. No species that angry could have survived the invention of fists. Online, even a whimsical chit-chat about the cutest part of a kitten can rapidly descend into a bitterly entrenched civil war that tears families apart, with brother turning on brother while their mother looks on, weeping. Resolving Palestine looks like a piece of piss by comparison.”

Charlie Brooker, via the guardian.

If keyboard thuggery were played out in real life (why has NO ONE shot this for Worldstar yet??) It would be a lot of awkward silences whilst one’s opponent thinks up, backspaces, and retypes an exclamation mark, capslock ridden response- back and forth it would go, with its polite pauses in the middle. This is not the way it would go in real life and more than half the things said online probably would not dare be uttered to the opposition’s face in reality! Yet sitting behind a computer, keyboard thuggery gives right of way to the thug with the highest vocabulary and wit, well thought out, impeccably (debatable) constructed to destroy the empire of their opponent, to the adoring “likers”, thumbs-uppers, retweeters, 

LOL/LMAO/ROFLMFAO-ers of the webosphere! PLEASE AUTHENTICATE MY EXISTENCE!

We are at war, people! At war with each other but mostly with ourselves. We are torn between who we are (average Joe, average Jane) and who we so desparately want to be, therefore we use these online avenues as an opportunity to replicate that day dream about the best version of you. The reason Instagram is so successful is because it has the ability to transform everyday activities into a dramatic, hipsterific adventure. The movie Catfish scared me because it is true. It is actually an old woman’s desire to be young again, to attract the men she probably once did, so she creates a profile, an avatar, a personality – she has this opportunity to become a different person – she’s screaming “PLEASE AUTHENTICATE MY EXISTENCE.”

Every aspect of our lives, wields the desire to be validated! Whether you want to admit it or not! We are constantly seeking approval of something or someone – banks, employers, potential life partners, potential one night standers, our pets, our children, our friends, our enemies – there is always something or someone who we ask to kindly AUTHENTICATE OUR EXISTENCE! Whatever conversation you have today will bear a subliminal message (you have the option to choose what voice you want to hear this in; Yoda, I choose you!!) Is it fair to say that pretty much every dialogue is very much like a job interview: from conversations on a first date to casual banter with friends. In both situations, you are seeking approval - one is just more overt and shameless than the other. This is why every research based on surveys is a pile of hooey!

Charlie's right, the internet is not to blame; we have been running this marathon since before the advent of the “www”...  For as long as we have been able to communicate, we have sought out authentication, we voice our thoughts and opinions in the hopes that at least one person concurs. No man wants to stand alone- not even those who so desperately want to stand out! Loneliness is not appealing; we all want to know that even when we stand out there is someone standing out with us! We want to be accepted! We sell things in the hope that people will buy, we say and write things (like this for example) in the hope that someone would “like”, “retweet” or “share” our opinions.

So, no the internet isn't to blame but it has drawn a magnifying glass to these not-so microscopic battles in honest communication, that have been going on since the dawn of time (seems legit!) The internet has laid emphasis on our desires so much so that it is just easier to blame for the people we have become.

We want to be successful, we want to feel like we’re living for something, we want to be the centre of attention, we yearn to be looked up to, we want to be superheroes! We aspire because we want validation! We want to feel like we’re worth something! Like our opinions matter to someone, somewhere! We do! Our need to have our existence authenticated is our gift as much as it is our curse. It pushes some to be better people, but it also clouds the judgement of others and creates some of the monsters we have in lurking in our society today...  

I’m writing this in the hope that someone agrees. PLEASE AUTHENTICATE MY EXISTENCE!!!