There seems to be an increasing trend among individuals these days to act as philosophers and to share whatever comes to mind with the world. Even though these pseudo-philosophical individuals insist they make sense, their expressed thoughts are considered unintelligible half the time. There are occasions, however, when someone can justify a shared belief or thought through their reasoning, although it is becoming rare these days. However, it is pertinent to note that there is no guarantee that everyone will understand the arguments presented or the point being made. Generally, thoughts are just another sentence to someone, a small fish in a vast sea. The individual reading or hearing a thought is unlikely to understand the writer’s thought process. Thus, they cannot fully comprehend or relate to the thought in its entirety; they cannot understand the context of how the thought was birthed and why it was expressed to others.
Previously, it was difficult for people to communicate their thoughts to the public. It was once common practice to bury thoughts in the darkest corners of the mind or only share them with those close to you. However, it has become easy for people to leak their thoughts to the world because of the phenomenon of communication and the various mediums through which people can communicate.
As so many people today express themselves through various platforms and mediums, there is an apparent decrease in sanctity regarding thoughts or the sharing of private thoughts. Is this a result of the proliferation of various platforms on different media, particularly online? According to what I have seen in the past, you only shared your opinions with a select group of individuals, and most of these individuals were interested in what you had to say. As a result, the thought and the fact that you are sharing it were given importance.
As social networking platforms have emerged and communication has improved, thoughts have been shared more widely. The prevalence and acceptance of the practice have increased in society. As the lines between the online and offline worlds have blurred, the online world has become a part of our daily lives. People who have difficulty communicating or expressing themselves in person now have the opportunity to publish their thoughts online. Whether this is a positive or a problematic thing may be debated, but in either case, it is irrelevant. Notably, a great deal of information is being transmitted worldwide for people to consume. This writer can debate in another article the pros and cons of sharing thoughts; however, for this article, it can be concluded that sharing thoughts is beneficial. Albeit, it is critical to remember that sharing a thought may be beneficial and damaging; the thought may affect people positively or negatively.
Suppose you share a thought on Facebook or Twitter. You receive many ‘likes’ on Facebook or ‘retweets’ on Twitter. Most importantly, you receive comments and mentions from others declaring that you wrote a clever tweet or thought of something interesting. As a result, you are pleased with the outcome and continue to share your personal and non-personal opinions. In what way would this be beneficial?
People who do not even know you in real life would generate a false sense of self-confidence and self-illusion. Then, suddenly, you would feel compelled to post more thoughts in the virtual world due to an unnatural boost to your ego. In other words, you are eager to share your opinions to gain appreciation, not to share them to express them. The desire to become famous and recognised is instilled in you. It would be a pleasure for you to receive compliments. Therefore, the purpose of publishing your thoughts in the virtual world would change from “sharing” to “fishing for compliments”. The project would become an exercise in vanity. Regardless of the intention to share your thoughts with the world, you will soon lose sight of your original purpose. It will be very hypocritical and performative to share thoughts.
Imagine that you share your private thoughts with a specific individual. It could be someone close to you; it could be someone special. For instance, it can be someone you love, someone you are close to in your family, or even someone you are very connected to, such as a close friend. Wouldn’t it be more meaningful to discuss your thoughts with someone interested in hearing them? Can you imagine how heartwarming it would be to know that someone is interested in learning and hearing about what you have to say? Instead of sharing with the virtual world, you share with someone who matters to you and to who you matter.
You will feel loved if the person who matters gives you an opinion based on your thoughts or provides you with advice following careful consideration of your thoughts. It is because someone cares for you. The people who read your thoughts online may like them, but since they do not know you and do not have an attachment to you, it will not be anything more than just liking it and discussing it further with other people they know. In addition, with Twitter, Facebook, and other communication channels, it has become easy to connect with many individuals now. It is, therefore, difficult to determine whether your audience is genuinely interested in your thoughts or whether they are reading them mindlessly — and moving on quickly to the next thing when you share your thoughts on these platforms. In addition, others might soon forget your thoughts.
Many people do not care about the deep feelings and thoughts we express. They are not interested in what we have to say. Instead, our thoughts are viewed as something to read to pass the time and to have fun. In most cases, individuals do not take the time to contemplate the ideas that have been expressed and are not influenced positively by them. People hardly care about it. Thus, the question arises whether it is appropriate and viable to share your thoughts with the world; or should they be kept to yourself and shared only with one or two trusted individuals?
