Though most of my West Coast-bred friends scoffed, Tuesday’s 5.8-magnitude earthquake really upset me—mostly because I didn’t feel it at all. As my Facebook news feed blew up with first hand accounts of the quake, I sat at my desk with an acute sense of disappointment. Somehow I had missed what would surely become one of the biggest news stories of the end of the summer. I had to disappoint the family members who had emailed me asking for an eyewitness report. Worst of all, I had to come home from work and listen to everyone telling me how cool it was to feel an earthquake as if I hadn’t been in DC at all.
I admit that experiencing an earthquake would likely not have been as cool as I imagine, but at least I could have said I experienced an earthquake. I would have gotten a story out of it, and that would have been worth more than the experience itself. It’s a phenomenon I’ve noticed in myself and in others, especially during college, when you’re expected to have the wildest and most enriching four years of your life. I don’t think I’m alone in admitting that many of the things I’ve done at Georgetown have only been enjoyable after the fact—when I’m telling people about them.
Take President Obama’s inauguration. I would have much rather sat in warmth and comfort of my New South room and watched it on TV. But, of course, I couldn’t miss out on telling family members and friends from home that I had gone. I went on to tell everyone how inspiring it was, but in reality I got separated from my friends after a port-o-potty trip, was woefully underdressed for the below-freezing temperatures, and was almost too tired to stay awake through the entire ceremony after not sleeping and leaving for the mall at 4 a.m.
This is the first time I’m admitting the truth, and until now, I almost believed the story I had been telling everyone. After all, college is no time for uninteresting activities.
Though I didn’t miss an opportunity to mobile-upload a picture of myself at the White House after the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death, despite being in the middle of finals, I haven’t fully committed to bringing my fear of missing out to the Internet. I easily could, though, with the advent of FourSquare and the ability to check-in to wherever they are using Facebook, thereby making it easier and faster to let everyone know exactly how cool you are based on the places you’ve been. I imagine checking into Third’s will become the new freshman go-to, replacing the classic, “Dude, I was so wasted last night.”
To some degree, I can obviously relate, but I draw the line at the Internet boasting because I know there’s no benefit in checking into a nice restaurant or a cool bar other than to seem like the man, even though no one asked. At least when I talked about the inauguration, it was in response to an interested question.
In addition to eliminating the need for Big Brother, it also eliminates the need for a story. Friends are going to stop listening because they already know that you went to Wisey’s, then home, and then to Tombs. Most of the time it seems like people spend more time uploading a picture of their most recent meal than they did actually enjoying it. I imagine that’s why D.C. restaurant Rogue 24 banned cell phones from their tables.
I think it’s natural for people to want other people to think that they’re having fun or being interesting whether or not they actually are, which explains FourSquare’s popularity. It’s still surprising to see how obvious people will be in the pursuit of seeming cool online.
Ultimately, I’m in no position to be speaking, because an online personality is only a more concentrated version of an actual personality. While I may leave my cell phone in my pocket at bars, while everyone is checking in, I’ll still be waiting for the aftershocks.
