The key to surviving life in the age of social media is to maintain a healthy dose of self-awareness. Life can be hard, so we all need to be careful and conscientious about our actions and dealings. Even an iota of cluelessness can make it more difficult.

Just look at those public officials who took selfies with former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo. They were all smiles, obviously exuberant and blatantly excited as they escorted the most wanted person in the country right now. Who in his right mind would do that? Ostensibly, everyone. To be honest, I would have also probably converted that arrest into a photoshoot myself given the chance.

That’s the effect of social media on everyone. We have come to love taking selfies so we can share them with the rest of the world, as we validate our existence based on the number of likes and shares we get.

I am pretty sure those officials never wish to downplay the serious and delicate nature of Guo’s arrest. But selfies are selfies. In fact, I even saw a video of a woman who was taking a selfie while her mother was literally being revived in the hospital.

“Missing you terribly Ma,” the caption says. Of course, it went viral because any picture that has to do with someone’s death generally gets sympathy likes.

So much so that even a candle or mere darkness as a profile pic can immediately get the consequent effect. This is why Jejomar Binay doesn’t like Facebook. Every time he posts a picture, he gets condolences.

My friend once posted a picture of her grandma in bed for the first time. I was one of those who immediately offered comfort and solace. Turns out, she did not die. It was just her birthday. I blame the caption for it though. It could have simply said: “Happy birthday grandma.” Instead, it read: “I love you to the moon and back. Will surely miss you.” Apparently, she was just migrating to Australia.

There’s quite a lot of studies on the impact of selfies on people. One research even talks about the selfie paradox because of how confusing this phenomenon has become. On the one hand, selfies evoke criticism and disrespect, and are associated with non-authenticity and narcissism. On the other hand though, people could not stop taking, posting and viewing them as a daily habit.

This is why those who were quick to criticize those hapless NBI officials who were grinning from ear to ear would probably have done the same if given the same opportunity.

If selfies and social media were already a thing during the time of Jesus Christ, our Lord God would have had quite a handful dealing with people wanting to take selfies with Him and His disciples might be forced to give backstage pass privileges to limit the number of people who would meet and greet.

Just imagine the amount of pictures posted when He fed the five thousand devotees who would either hail the event as a miracle or criticize it because they hate fish and like meat more, proclaiming they’re offended.

Or what about the selfies taken while he was carrying His cross on His way to His crucifixion with captions ranging from “JC Superstar!” to “I will miss you Papa J.” Or the amount of hate Judas would get when he betrayed Him. He would probably be forced to deactivate his Facebook account and have a press conference with Attorney Fortun.

Social media, sadly, is still in its wild-wild-west state and it takes a heavy dose of self-awareness to figure out how to navigate and survive it. Because it offers a chance to sell ourselves, we tend to take so much selfies and filter not only our photos but even our lives. In fact, we even Photoshop our achievements, making them more significant than they actually are.

This is not to say though we can’t indulge in narcissistic pursuits every now and then. At the end of the day it’s all about striking a balance.