With claims like… ‘facebook is now the number one online activity even surpassing pornography’… you know it’s in a league of it’s own.

I, amongst millions of others, find it near impossible to live without the largest, most popular social media site of them all… facebook.

I liken it to an addiction, much worse than my shoe habit. I simply cannot function without the frequent logins that keep me up to date with the goings on in ‘YOUR’ life.

Yet everyday it dawns on me that it can be such an invasion of privacy.

More and more people live via facebook. Every iota of life ends up pasted over the walls and in the photo albums of this freakishly addictive social media site.

Sure there are measures you can take to protect your privacy, most of us do use these tools in one-way or another.

But too much privacy defeats the purpose of indulging right?

So I have a question…

Why do we ‘post’ so much on facebook? The ‘every move I make’ status updates, and the constant photo uploads… What is this need to put so much out there?

For attention! That’s my point blank answer. We do it to be seen and to be heard.
I guess sharing is caring, so we share to show off our fabulous lives. To show one another how good we’re looking these days, how many fly clothes we possess, that my life is better than yours, that we’re such social butterflies.

Whatever the reasons, we post stuff to be viewed.

In my eyes, pictures on facebook are the adults’ version of ‘show and tell’.
In pre-school you share a new toy or a family heirloom that holds an interesting story.
In social media sphere… plain and simple, you share your life via pictures, status updates, wall posts, tweets etc.

It’s all put out there. And pictures are priceless because as they say a picture can tell a thousand words. In the social media arena, I believe pictures can often tell a whole lot more than words. View enough photo’s of somebody you’ve never even met and you’ll start to piece together the story of their life.

You can’t deny it though; we love the comment threads on a pretty picture of ourselves; its like instant gratification, a digital ego boost. Great for your health, like a shot of wheat grass but it goes straight to the head and tastes so much better.

I believe highly in ‘self-fancy’ and in my opinion everyone should hold a healthy dose of self-fancy within him or herself.

This may be more familiar to the ladies, but who hasn’t recently had a picture taken, rushed to view it on the digital camera and had all the girls nod in unison and declare loudly, “profile pic”.

It’s often this ‘self-fancy’ that leads to lifting the privacy settings of your personal photo albums. People simply want to share their fabulousness with the world.

Let’s be real. We enjoy showing off the “damn I’m hot” pictures of ourselves and sharing them publicly all in the hope ex lovers will see them and think, “wow I let a mighty good thing go”.
It’s superficial but sometimes we want others to be envious or even jealous.

This is when ‘peeping tom’ comes into play.

Lindy’s Definition of a social media ‘peeping tom’ you ask?

It’s that person that wanders aimlessly or purposely through profiles of ‘friends of friends’, total randoms, the ex boyfriends new girlfriend etc. peeping their pictures and anything that may be open for viewing.

The stalked upon are often casually stumbled across whilst reading friends walls (OMG who is this tart? *click* or hold up she’s really pretty… too pretty *click*) reading comment threads (well hello there handsome *click*) and random friend requests (who the hell is this? *click*) It could be considered a ‘jackpot’ when you come across a profile that’s totally open for your viewing pleasure. It’s amusing (and scary) just how much some people fancy themselves.

I’m a self-confessed ‘peeping tom’ and I blame facebook.

I know I don’t stand alone in my habit. So can i get a show of hands for those that are with me?

In this digital age a social media ‘peeping tom’ is as common as an iPhone.

Being a ‘peeping tom’ on FB passes time. It can ease boredom. It can create assumptions. It’ can breed gossip. It can be terribly intrusive… But it can be so much fun and even educational at times… “oooooh so that’s his girlfriend”.

Maybe I need a ‘peeping tom’ intervention?
Outro: Lindy singing (out of key)…
Every little step I take
You will be there
Every little step I make
We’ll be together
Every little step I take
Will be on Facebook ©

Ohhhh look i'm about to eat a chocolate truffle... hold up... let me capture it, to share it, to make you envious ;-)