The Cult of Following

Social Media has reworked our brains to focus on our individual online status, our bragging rights of having endless followers versus the lowly act of following others. I think it’s all bogus, superficial posturing of artificial status. It’s not by accident that Facebook’s Zuckerberg chose that particular double-meaning, Ivy League approved, elitist terminolgy, Status means so much to our sense of well-being. But I still wonder why Facebook is celebrated as a breakthrough invention when My Space and Friendster already existed? Why do we continue to congratulate copy cats? I can’t stand Zuckerberg’s spying Facebook, but I feel trapped there to remain connected with old friends. It’s seems impossible now to actually meet in person. Are we robots yet? Have they switched our bodies at night into these synthetic, gluten-intolerant bodies that are compelled to live through social media?

We live in constant reminder of our economic ranking, we advertise ourselves with costumed branded clothes and don’t realize we’re walking advertisements. We’re proud to work for free, actually we pay (triple the cost?) for the status of modeling their corporate logoed icons of success. Go anywhere in the Bay Area and you’ll see the North Face logo on practically every jacket. I still refuse to join their cult, because I can’t stand wearing blatantly obnoxious labels. Juicy Couture was the worst! They should have just written “Ass” on their pants, it would’ve been more truthful. I don’t want to be any corporation’s obvious, brain dead puppet.

I just started writing here on Medium and so far I’m not a fan yet. I also write on another blog elsewhere. It’s a kinder, gentler world where bloggers co-create an active, online creative community. The comments are on topic, validating and conversational there and I have yet to be trolled by anyone there, (for writing articles about cultural assimilation, appropriation, racism or controversial topics). But I’ve found an alternative universe here on Medium. It’s like a wild west gunslinging, cybernetic space where anyone with access to a computer can spew hatred or whatever bizarre comment on your humble or not so humble article. Sounds fair, I’m game enough to wear an extra layer of anti-troll energy around my aura. I can survive zero claps and a handful of comments without giving up the desire to publish openly, (perhaps prematurely, but there’s only so much editing you can do before you have to send it out to the emptiness of the vast and lonely universe and the digitalized unknown). Re-edit later is my blogging motto.

Finding your voice and finding an audience seem to be a synchronized, inter-related process. I was looking over my stats because, yes I’m curious and have an ego, and I initially thought, I should switch my focus to please my audience of almost 300, (much less than the thousand + people I was following), but then I realized that I care about quality content and interaction versus superficial, meaningless writing focused on securing a following.

So I decided to unfollow about 1000 writers who weren’t following me. Yes my hand got tired of unhighlighting names ;) but I can’t authentically read articles by 1000 + no matter how long my subway commute to work is, it’s just not possible for me to actually engage and build community with that unwieldy number. So I’m down to following about 400 right now. I’m going to slowly whittle that number down to the equivalent to how many writers are following me. Fair is fair. So if I’ve accidentally unfollowed you during my weeding process, please re-follow me and I’ll do the same. Clap for clap and comment for comment, I intend to genuinely create connections here with like-minded writers. Thanks for reading this and hopefully clapping;) and if not good luck finding what you need!