Several months ago I was in the archives, researching ways in which “The Great Divide” narrative was presented as a form of national unification, and how such categorizations and reductions of the geophysical world were so central to the “conquering nature” narrative. 

Stamped: "Mailed From The Top of the World: The Great Divide" Elevation 5332 Feet"

 

  The narratives differed, depending on a host of factors including age, gender, culture, and season, but one of the salient features of all was the consideration in which the writer attempted to convey not just what she experienced but what the landscape also brought to her.  These post cards were descriptive, intimate, modest. 

Qualities that are, with few exceptions, largely missing from The Facebook Travel post.  Why? 

First, one must dispense with any argument to the effect that Facebook posts are not postcards.  Are they written from a place?  Is there a medium by which they are conveyed?  Do they find a reader somewhere else?  If you answered in the affirmative then regardless of the other qualities that make FB posts different, they are postcards nonetheless. 

But it is in these other qualities that one may be able to locate the sources of instant gratification that range from the merely banal to the outright self-congratulation and pomp that overpower any other message.  To begin, the squeezing of time and space in the electronic postcard eliminates the anticipation that comes with the wait–for both writer and audience.  One can imagine that the reader is watching you write the post so why reveal your thoughts, reflections.  

But she is not there and therein lies one of the problems.  

There seems to be a tendency toward brevity in the FB post.  Why?  Theoretically (and physically) speaking, the FB post is a postcard without limit yet one rarely comes across a post more than a couple of lines–unless one is on a travel blog (more on that later).  Brevity breeds discontent; short bursts can be largely self-centred and devoid of reflection.  Is it because one is unconsciously aware of the boundless space that a FB post provides or is the urge to tell the world that ”I’m here/You’re Not” a powerful addiction, part of the human condition?  In any case, the textures, feelings and reciprocities of place are subsumed under the gaze of the writer.  The FB travel post is not  humanity’s greatest travel writing moment. 

There are ways to write electronically without exposing such self-serving, seemingly culturally specific qualities–and several people are doing this (thank you friends!).  First, as stated above, travel blogs (yes, a blog!) provide a more reflective narrative, allowing for open-ended and always changing stories that the FB post either cannot or will not allow.  Second, downloading photos (and text) after the trip also allows for a time lag which runs counter to the instant gratification of the nano-second post.  The post-trip travelogue also signifies a level of modesty that can be in short supply next to the instant FB post. 

Finally, one may question motives in sending a post this way in the first place.  It may seem slightly crass–OK I’m also a little sensitive that you’re  here and I’m not but I wasn’t before you sent the 12-word post– but it doesn’t take much to write a little about what you’re experiencing and, even better, how you feel people, places, things are experiencing you.  That kind of writing also has value. 

Or, you could send a postcard; maybe even a little trinket from your journey as well… 

Happy Travels!

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