I've always been very comfortable doing my own thing and going on my own journeys. I was never one who fit it, nor did I attempt to fit it. I am very slow to make friends, and I'm sure that my lowered need for validation is probably a part of that.

As far as social media goes... I don't even know where to start. There is such a culture of bragging and showing off that is perpetuated there. I have great difficulty understanding it, but there are many things I don't understand about the Internet still. For instance, why in the world would someone take a staged photo to pretend like they were in a place there didn't actually go? I recently read about a girl who pretended, via social media, to visit Paris or somewhere. Of course, she was found out. But I can't understand why someone would feel the need to pretend this in the first place.

As for the acts of charity, Facebook now asks you to "donate your birthday to charity." It's such an odd request... The vast majority of my Facebook friends wouldn't think of giving me a gift on my birthday. Why am I going to ask them for money for a charity instead of a non-existent gift? I think it goes back to the self-affirmation. The act of donating your birthday makes the birthday asker feel good, while the friend who wasn't going to give you anything anyway can now think more highly of the birthday person for being so generous. However, very little good is actually done for the charity. It's like a feedback loop.

And yes, real discussions and conversations like this one are gems. :-)