World-sized Group Therapy

Hall Freud Jung in front of Clark 1909

We all feel like philosophers on Facebook. That frenzy feed, so filled with more or less spontaneous chats, is pushing us to take out the best (or the worst) of our being (being, so, organisms with a complex mental capacity).

But I noticed that there is a huge difference between what most of users are (or show) in the real life and what they express on their profile! For example, an extroverted person, full of energy, apparently self-conscious and a natural leader, can reduce himself to a little amount of bad written sentences with a lot of grammar errors on his profile. There is also the classic shy person, usually being very reserved, which creates in him a mixture of fascinating, but yet irritating sensation. This kind of person can surprise you with very long and articulated speeches about very technical and political stuff which show an incredible knowledge on many topics and which will make you think: “he was irritating, now I want to kill him”. With love, of course.

Not to talk about the ones who are flooding our virtual days with they physical trophies, some of them are like that also in the normal life, others are usually always covered, you can’t see an inch of skin not even by digging. You can find them half naked on FB and you will find yourself on the train trying to hide the screen of your phone while the lady who is sitting beside you is judging you for your pornographic passions.

Then there are trolls, the ones who don’t have a life (or their life sucks) and they are letting it out on the social networks, they are usually writing a bit on the feeds, but they are unstoppable with the private messages. They usually come up with some typical expressions like “Hey!” … and then nothing. After that, since they feel ignored, they go on with an increasing level of banality, like: “how are you?”, “hi”, “ohi”, “Ohiiii!!!”, until they become ridiculous with a soft approach, the tactical one: “your profile picture made me curious, I’d like to know you”.

“Oh yeah, do you want to know me?! How romantic. You can start from reading the info on my profile at the section “relationship”, then if you want we can have a good conversation”. Disappeared, forever. I will get on with it.

In conclusion, I think that the attractive part of FB is in this: in the possibility to express freely what the real society brings us to repress. I imagine Mr. FB like a big psychologist with a heavy notebook in his hands, collapsed on his arm-chair, almost sleeping, which pretends to listen the unstoppable river of words thrown up by the restless patient.

In other words, I imagine some sort of self-managed world-sized group therapy, without hours and without rules.

Who knows then, while we are all so busy in letting it all out, if there is someone who is able to listen to us and to recognize us in real life.

I doubt it, but in the meantime I almost finished my daily therapy and I’m satisfied. Au revoir!!!

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