The Confessional Society
People’s private lives are reflected online and in turn become public. Bauman describes The Confessional Society as those who are willing to participate in making their privacy public and moving forward, while those who refuse get left behind and socially excluded. It is important to note that people do not broadcast everything, and can choose what they wish to share. Bauman states that this is done mostly to capture attention and to gain approval through the game of socializing.
As this video demonstrates, the guy in it blatantly lies about his downwardly spiraling life, but convinces his audience otherwise through his posts and photos. I chose to share this video because the entire point of it was that the main guy was using his facebook posts as a means of gaining other’s approval and in turn convincing himself that his life is better than it actually is.
Through the video, it is shown how many people today fight for attention on the internet, whether they mean to or not. They seek a sense of importance, but even more so, they seek the power that comes from knowing that people have heard their words and “like” them.