I’m often struck by how the way people see themselves and connect with others has changed over the past 20 years with the advent of internet communication and social media. And I hardly notice it unless I step back.​

Kind of like how I notice that the UK accent has changed slightly over the years when I visit.​

And of course there are so many ways I’ve changed that I’m unaware of, because I’m in the experience.​

But just thinking, for example, of how for most people, photos, personal news, thoughts and feelings were what ​ you shared with family and friends you saw regularly, as opposed to a mix of strangers and “friends” you may or may not have ever met in the real world.​

It used to be that you projected your self-image, your presence, and essence into the receptive gaze of those who knew you, and you received feedback from them about yourself and how you affected them.​

Today, if you post on social media, your self-image is projected way into the distance, beyond your sight. You can never know who sees you. ​

And we are all operating with that awareness, that sense of being watched, our self-image amplified before a world of strangers, who may or may not glance at us for a moment.​

How has this awareness changed us? How else have we been changed?​