There are many people who feel it necessary to embellish their deeds over the Internet. Authentication is one of the seductions that lure us into this cyber labyrinth, which we spend hours of our life browsing. Myspace is just one of the many mediums of the Internet which allows us to browse through people as if they were a commodity. Just like any product, the better sales presentation, the more people will want it. Since there is no check of authentication other than a person’s email, the people we converse with everyday over the Internet could very well appear to be something other than their reality.
Besides the distortion of occupation, academic history, interests and age, the one characteristic, that when exaggerated scares me more than anything, is lying about what you look like. I am not talking about people who use pictures of celebrities or people who use weird symbols as their default picture representation; I am mainly talking about people who are photogenic! That’s right, hours and hours of web-camera photo-shoots, hundreds of Photoshop and Paint shop edits and many polls of friends to narrow down the selection to 12 awesomely hot and sexy pictures!
….your face isn’t that pretty, your hair isn’t that long, your smile isn’t that cute, your biceps aren’t that big, your nose isn’t that small, your hair color isn’t red, your butt isn’t that firm, your abs aren’t that ripped, you don’t have that many friends, that dress isn’t flattering, your breasts aren’t that busty, you don’t drive that car, and finally you are not that rich….
On top of all these falsities, people also believe that truth comes with the exhibition of different angles of a picture. We don’t need to see 10 different angles of your face, just show us a profile or a close up, and stop hiding who you are. What grossly attribute do those angles cloak? Sure “you” can take a cute picture and put it up on the Internet, but how do you look in the real world?
Recently, I have been very daunted with the idea of meeting people over the Internet for the simple fact I don’t believe they look like who they show us they look like. I am not a photogenic person what so ever, so if you see me in the “real” world, you are getting something better then what you see in a picture and I do zero editing! There are people who have awesomely hot and sexy pictures that turn out to be dogs, so why go through all those picture edits and lie to the world?
Pho-to-gen-pho-bia / noun :
1.The fear of people who are photogenic.
2. A condition which induces fear toward people who misrepresent themselves
through photos whereby, looking totally different in real life.
3. Baffled, confused about the world and the people in it.
Next time you decide to spend hours adjusting your photo for the Internet, think about all the disappointed people you will meet in “real” life. Part of what makes the Internet so great is that you can meet people who will like you for who you are, so stop using hyperbole in describing your E-self. Don’t allow photogenphobia to spread and don’t let ugly people trick you in thinking they are awesomely hot and sexy!
“A picture is worth a thousand words…”
However
“A myspace profile is worth a million words…”
Damn you Photogenphobia!