For what it's worth- we are by nature self-centered, the world revolves around us. Until and unless we grow up. So to your point, sadly, you're addressing a level of emotional immaturity which is vast. Second, I am no Christian, but I peruse the major religious books of the big religions. Call me crazy but there's this thing called the Sermon on the Mount (my Bible has a single ribbon and it's on this) and there is this paragraph about drawing attention to one's self, most particularly to show oh how holy we are. Call me nuts, but this also kinda underscores your point. Third, I'm nearly 70, and social media, while not new to me per se, it’s still comparatively new to me in terms of a very long life. That said, I've made the same mistake, telling a story about X but burying it under three or four paragraphs of stupid shit about me and my life. We all do it, until we notice it, see how stupid it is, and learn to edit it. We are a culture which has a genuinely difficult time with being other-focused. To illustrate this: I travel a lot, and regularly am in places where the locals are remarkably aware, for example, of someone who is having a hard time, and who immediately step in to help without needing to be asked. This happened recently in Colombia where a surgery rendered my left hand useless. It was an extraordinary reminder of how self-centered Americans are, and how everything always has to be about US US US often at the expense of others, again, to your point. Increasingly we seem to be so very needy of attention and acknowledgement that we will Hoover the very air out of the room. I've made that mistake myself, otherwise I would have no reference point. However these days, it's a lot easier to catch that crap before it goes public. Such awareness doesn't come without a price, and that is to our delicate pride.
On one hand, we have every right to tell our unique stories. On the other, kindly, who is paying the price to make us look good? Great question, Lisa Marie. But in the age of Trump, look at what's being modeled for us, and it surely isn't humility or inclusion in too many cases. It's extremely hard to take a scathing look at the scat we publish, and ask ourselves, who got hurt by this? Whose blood am I sucking so that I can look good? Those are Big Girl Panties questions. I appreciate the article. Sadly, as in too many cases, those who need to read it likely won't, or if they do, in that way of our lack of self-assessment, they may well determine that this of course doesn't apply. It did apply to me, it made me think hard, and that is precisely why I liked it. Keep at it.