The idea of a Social Media Footprint came to me this week after contemplating this gift of life that we are bestowed. As I swiftly approach my 40th birthday, I am actually trying to be philosophical, as we are only here but a fraction of time, so the question on my mind is “what do we actually leave behind” as individuals, a trace of “who we were” or “what we achieved”?
Our predecessors, people such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Jules Verne have left us enchanting books, filling our heads with fantastic images. Da Vinci, Picasso and Rembrandt left us great works of art which bring us joy hundreds of years after their deaths. The great compositions of Beethoven, Mozart and Bach to name but a few have given us magnificent classical pieces of music. Inventors like Karl Benz who is generally acknowledged as the inventor of the modern automobile, the light bulb by Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell and his telephone. The first pioneers of flight, Icarus and the Wright brothers, all these people have given us things to remember and things to improve our lifetime… so what can we, the “everyday” folk of the world do to make us remembered in the future?
Not all of us are lucky enough to realise childhood dreams. Many boys hope to become a professional footballer, an astronaut, to conquer Everest or to follow in the footsteps of musical legends, like the Beatles songwriting duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney or perhaps to become Movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean or modern greats like Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and Elizabeth Taylor.
So how can we leave a little bit of history or a footprint of ourselves behind, something that actually makes our everyday lives seem a little more worthwhile and creative?
Many of my older relatives have started work on their family trees to see where their past lies. This seems to keep them contented and of course it is pretty amazing if you can find out that you are a direct descendant of someone rather unique. Others turn to religion and Christ to make their final days more worthwhile. I believe that all of us are rather special and if you were to analyze each of our lives we may be of interest to future civilisations even if we haven’t invented the Microchip, the world wide web, electronic mail or Microsoft.
The future for us is our Social Media Footprint. I truly believe that in many many years to come, when people are surfing the net in their brain with built in microprocessors in the ear so they can call their friends from anywhere… they will look back to their relative’s footprints, their blogs, their online photos and social media posts to understand from where they have descended! Probably a much more personal probe into someone’s life than ever available before!
My son for instance will be able to read how his Mother and Father felt when he was born, see scans of him inside his mothers womb and read how he grew up, watching video clips and listening to sound clips of those first important years. Learning how he developed and matured. Looking at and remembering all the countries he visited in his early years. He may then show his son and his son’s son and so on, whilst perhaps even continuing adding to that particular content long into the future!
How strange and incredible to know that our writing, anecdotes and rants may make people laugh or cry long after we and our families have passed on… start your blog today!!