FACEBOOK’S UNCANNY VALLEY
“Uncanny valley” describes animation or robots that try to mimic humans, but still feel fake, keeping us from fully suspending disbelief.
This exists on Facebook as confessional posts that aren’t. At first glance, they appear to be far too personal and voyeuristic to share with some random acquaintance you met once at a party six years ago. But read closely. On careful inspection, you realize it’s not personal at all. It’s all vacant platitudes — generic proclamations of love or suffering, disguised as revelation. Nothing is actually revealed or exposed.
In fact, read to the very end to find the real motive: self-promotion. Some new project that demands your money, attention or sharing. After all, your ‘friend’ just spilled his guts for you. He bled truth. The least you can do is share this, right?
This is emotional blackmail. And it’s not entirely their fault. Part of it is this medium, this hollow narcissistic time we’re in, and a genuine need for meaning and connection, pacified meekly with pixels.
It’s uncanny how close we can sail to friendship, without actually landing on it — or any of its tributaries.
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