It’s not about being liked
Do you want to be liked?
Do you look for validation for what you do?
Do you want a specific number of followers?
Why would anyone answer yes to any of the above?
Of course it’s nice to be liked, but should we be obsessed by getting people to just like/follow for our like/follow. This kind of validation then creates conversations where some people assume other people won’t move unless someone gives them a ‘thumbs up’ sign. It would seem many people are desperate to get approval for what they do rather than stand by their own conviction.
When numbers of ‘likes’ or ‘followers’ on a social media post aren’t reached it’s seen as a fail. This is so far from reality, people should be valued as people not as a number.
As an art student in 1985, talking with lecturers and students I said I didn’t want to just be liked. I wanted to talk about what it was they may dislike or like while understanding opposing likes and dislikes at the same time.
We talk
We listen
We learn
Simple or is it?
The art world is full of people liking, loving and applauding just so they get that in return from those in front of them. Sadly it takes them too long to realise the audience is full of people like them.
The ideal audience is actually one that doesn’t buy into what we do but may know someone who does, by thinking with an open mind they’ll then share the information with these people who trust their unbiased opinion and judgement.
Most civilisations throughout have worked like all the above both the good and the bad, the concepts I follow were refined by me in 1985 but I didn’t write them as social media prophets today aren’t uniquely sharing similar formats of natural social interaction.
We all like positive responses and big numbers of people applauding us, that should never be questioned. As a performance artist I could have stayed within the safe confines of empty art galleries and similar venues — but I chose to perform as a living sculpture in public places. The reason being I wanted to stop people and give them something to talk about while analysing their responsive behavioral patterns — unlike the supposed intellectuals they didn’t think art first. But instead they saw something they could like, dislike and even hate but always talk about.
I performed in front of thousands of people every week and learned more from them than I ever would sticking to one track and one group of people.
Curiosity is where creativity begins and how innovation occurs.
If we spend all our time chasing numbers and not analysing and understanding what’s happening we’ll miss the innovations that are happening naturally.
No need to like me or follow me as long as you talk to me.
Feel free to add to the conversation below in the comments.
Thanks
Mark
social media consultancy
focusing on sociable behaviour
call me to talk more
