Big Summer

by Jennifer Weiner

In space, nobody could hear you scream; on the Internet, nobody could tell if you were lying.

I’m very proud of this line. It’s funny, and it’s mostly true. And if you don’t believe me, spend ten minutes scrolling through Facebook, looking at vacation pictures and school photos. Then think about how many pictures were rejected before the poster chose what she wanted you to see. Think about how the pictures were cropped, edited, brightened or dimmed or otherwise changed. Think about how easy it is to accept what you’re seeing as true, and how you have to consciously pull yourself out of the picture to remember that what you’re seeing is the result of choices, that it’s not just the truth.