INDEX
Prioritizing Genuine Connections: Cherish Those with Whom You Can Speak Candidly
Celeina： One thing that caught my attention in your letter was the part where you said, “SNS is all the rage, but I really don’t care about the number of friends you have there. In your mind, is there any difference in the way you relate to SNS between now and in the past?
While social media may seem popular, the quantity of friends you have there isn’t significant. As someone who finds it difficult to express yourself openly, prioritize those with whom you can share your true thoughts. If you truly want to cherish what matters, you’ll realize you can’t carry too much. Despite being skilled, remember that your capacity has its limits!
Excerpt from Kento Nagatsuka’s (WONK) letter (“#WordsIWantToSendToMyselfFromBackThen” presented by FRISK)
Nagatsuka: I was on mixi at the time, and mixi is different from Facebook and Instagram in that there are genres of things you like and a community of people who like those things.
On the other hand, with today’s social networking services, there are many people who use them to do business, and their value can be measured by how well they present themselves and by the number of people who follow them. That may be a good way to do business, but are the friends you have there true friends? I wondered. In that sense, I think the narrow community of “that’s what I like” on mixi back then was more real than it is now.
Celeina： It is true that now there are more and more times when I feel that the barrier between social networking and reality is disappearing. In this context, this one line made me think that I have to take a step back from SNS and value my own bird’s-eye view.
Takano: And the line that follows, “You’re not good at communicating your true feelings, but you should value above all people with whom you can talk about your true feelings properly,” made me think that this is something that many people can relate to.
Nagatsuka: It’s hard to be honest, isn’t it? It’s exhausting. But I think it’s very rare to find someone with whom you can talk about your true feelings.
Takano: What kind of people are you talking to?
Nagatsuka: My current friends, the WONK members, and my family. I thought there was a lot of waste in the way I was living now, and I had a collection of 3,000 people I was connected to on Facebook. I was sorting through them and found that I had about 2,700 people left.
Celeina: Desertion.
Nagatsuka: But the remaining people are very real. The people who are still alive and active in my life and work are the ones who remain. Looking at the faces of these people, I was happy to see that many of them are wonderful people. I wondered, “What is this person doing?” I found out that they were surprisingly close to each other in their work and where they lived. I felt lighter. I think it’s good to be disconnected [laughs].
