The person identifies with the image the others have created of him on Facebook, and this image in turn guides his life and actions. He comes to believe that his public image (with the comments underneath it) is who he is.

The reason that the little things are more important than the big ones, turns out to be very simple: one can fake the big things in one’s behaviour, but not the little things. The little things lack the three “f’s”: feigning, fabrication, fakeness. Plus the most important “c”: contrivance.

Through “posts” and “sharing,” by exhibiting one’s loves and tastes, personal stories, photos, and more, each “curates” a public image of oneself on the web, to which one then continually strives to conform. Personal identity becomes one’s reflection in the others’ eyes.

As it turns out, Plutarch, consciously or unconsciously, touched on a truth that most of us feel, but rarely meditate upon: the little things in behaviour are the door not only to the real character of people but also to their soul.

Some even “peek through” their computer screens to see themselves on FB as others see them, in order to be sure of who they really are. In effect, they have become self-voyeurs!

What is seen by all on FB becomes what each person also sees in the mirror when he sees himself. The others’ gaze, but also the others’ values, opinions, and judgements become one’s own.

We all watch and are constantly being watched in the social media. And while we feel this gaze of others, we form our own identities, our own personas, having as a guiding principle the opinion, the values, the (gossiping) interests of others.