- Since the start of confinement, challenges have invited us to share photos of childhood or youth on social networks.
- Many internet users reveal their memories and (re) discover those of their friends and followers.
- Is diving into the past the best way to forget the dramas of the present?
If you are on Facebook, Instagram or even Twitter, it is impossible that you missed out on this phenomenon (or else you do not have many friends and / or "followers", and there it is another problem). Between two virtual aperitifs and the exchange of more or less fine jokes on the Covid-19, many Internet users take pleasure in plunging back into the past, by posting photos of childhood, family or "youth".
#Throwbackchallenge, # MeAt20… Since the start of confinement, virtual "challenges" have invited people from all over the world, whether they are known to everyone or anonymous, to share old pictures on social networks, and "tag" their friends so they can do the same. A way to remember good memories, or to "display" nicely his friends, like actress Leïla Bekhti, who came out of the drawer of old files.
View this post on Instagram
There is a “game” on insta right now which consists of posting photos of us as a child and appointing other people to do the same. Except that most people post pictures of them mimi, pretty, but I am lucky to have pictures called "folder" of some people that I offer you with great pleasure. Treat yourself and watch your eyes it might sting ... In order: @taharrahimofficiel, @jonathancohens, @autopromodegilleslellouche, @marinafois, @adeleexarchopoulos, @hugoselignac, @melhabedia, @geraldinenakach (the only one who does well )
A post shared by Leila Bekhti (@leilabekhti) on Mar 22, 2020 at 9:03 am PDT
But why is the confinement that we have been experiencing for several weeks particularly favorable for these time journeys that are full of tenderness or regrets? Because it feels good for our little hearts?
In search of lost happiness
We will not get too wet by saying that first of all, it is a way of remembering that life did not always look like this well rotten period worthy of a bad anticipation film. The old family photos, it is still palpable proof that at least a second of our life, we were happy (sorry to seal the mood). You may have played these challenges for this reason. Or you may have noticed that members of your entourage were participating. As long as to do, I asked the question to Internet users whose vintage photos appeared on my sons of social networks. "I realize that I had a rather downright nifty childhood, thank you dad thank you mom!", Testifies my friend Caro, 32 years old (who did not draw a line under our friendship despite this cleavage article). And especially in this complicated period of confinement where we feel distant from our loved ones, it gives me pleasure to review these shared moments with my family or my friends. "
Same feelings for Camille, 30, whose photos allow her "to remember the good times". "It allows me to share a little bit of my life with people more or less close and discover a little theirs (we are not going to lie, we do not know hyperbien 100% of our Insta friends), to tag people from my family, or my childhood friends to laugh or cry over a memory. It allows you to keep or recreate a link, for example there are a lot of people to whom I sent photos of 20 years ago, that I had not contacted since a lease ”, confides- she.
The childhood refuge
Diving back into childhood albums brings balm to the heart. Is. But is it that simple? Because many other activities can cheer us up, like laughing and crying at an episode of This is us , or drowning a stick of surimi in a jar of mayonnaise. For Samuel Lepastier, psychiatrist and member of the Paris Psychoanalytic Society, "photos are only one element". "We are experiencing a collapse of the environment, in a few hours we were forced to change our lifestyle, and to realize that what we thought was forever established could disappear in a very short time," he says. . All this creates permanent anxiety or anxiety, especially since we discover that life is very uncertain. This period revives ancient anxieties and everyone tries to reassure themselves as best they can. A common habit of reassuring yourself is to find your bearings. And one of the safest is our childhood ”.
Some will bring out their photos, others will want to find their children's toys, or simply go back to their family homes (hello Parisians). “When I was little there were no iPhones, smartphones and not too many digital cameras: we printed all the photos, even those with the finger mark in the corner or the one that is super blurry. And in my family, all these photos are stored in a large trunk with my parents. Seeing all these memories and challenges going on Instagram and being confined to them made me want to delve into this, ”says Camille.
Avoid breaking
Another interest of the photos according to the psychiatrist, those "of the world before" can help us to "establish a continuity between what we have been and what we are today". "It's a way of showing that there is no break, that we are always the same," he explains. In a period where we lose ground, or we can ask billions of existential questions, they can therefore allow us to cling to reality, but also to attest to the passage of time. “We take stock of our life, where we are, what we went through, how we became what we are. And in my case I am quite proud!, Rejoices Camille. For my parents, it's different: my father likes to share photos of him to find or show the resemblances with his grandchildren. "
In another genre, Caro also measures the years that go by thanks to the looks of others: “Most of the people I follow on social networks are people of my generation and their photos also remind me of certain clothing styles that have marked our childhood, or certain haircuts like the obligatory passage by the bowl cut. Some will also simply remember that at one time they had hair.
Life, death, and Instagram
Childhood, the bowl, life ... But also death. At the risk of permanently breaking the mood, observing the passage of time is also remembering that one day, it will be over. And we must admit that the period particularly invites to existential torments. "The older we get and the more we think about our childhood, the closer we get to the end and the more we look to the past," rightly recalls Samuel Lepastier. It is a way to extend your life. To go back is to find the time before since we do not know what will be done the next time. It is a way of stopping time and living eternity. Going back to childhood is also a way of living as immortal. "
In a slightly less dramatic register, Camille recognizes that "the after" is what worries her most: "Are we all going to be able to keep our jobs, are we going to regain our freedom, travel ? Seeing this life where everything was allowed and where on my side I was really happy, it makes me feel good. "So we needed the coronavirus, the confinement and the Instagram challenges to appreciate the value of life ..." It makes me want to take advantage of each new moment that I can share in the flesh with the people I love "Caro believes. And we promise him thousands.
Society
Coronavirus: Why do we get so many “funny” videos and rotten jokes?
Web
Coronavirus: How to dodge a virtual aperitif without offending your loved ones in full confinement
- Covid 19
- Photo
- Containment
- Coronavirus
- Social media