Why do followers and likes make our self-worth plummet or spike? #Woke
Validation by others has and always will be a major contributing factor to our sense of worth. Throughout history and in different stages of development, it has manifested itself into various forms and it has been measured in different ways. When we were children, we would measure it by the amount of Valentine’s Day cards we received in school and when we got older, it turned into a count of how many people attended our parties. In the 21st century, it has become the cultural norm for us to measure validation from others by the number of followers we have on social media and how many people interact with the posts and content we share, otherwise known as social media metrics.
Social media metrics affect our sense of self-worth by making our self-esteem dependent upon a set of data that reveals our social currency. Humans are social and jealous creatures who compare themselves to others and feel happy when they receive attention and validation. Metrics are a primarily quantitative way to assess how popular we are. This has contributed to society understanding value numerically and urged us to set objectives that are easily measurable. For instance, when businesses look at their return on investment (ROI), they look at the amount of money spent compared to the amount of money earned to determine the value that their investments provided. There are two types of metrics: vanity metrics and actionable metrics. Vanity metrics improve our esteem when they increase and show a superficial measurement of popularity, such as page views, visitors and followers. Actionable metrics contain greater value, as they help us determine what is causing viewership, audience interactions and audience retention to increase, and specifically what people are viewing our content and posts for. Audience participation, conversion rates and intent are all examples of actionable metrics.
Unfortunately, vanity metrics are usually easier to observe and analyze than actionable metrics. This has led to a widely accepted understanding of value that is oversimplified, as it fails to understand our reputation and perceptions by others. A viral video of Donald Trump saying something outrageous may be viewed many times, for example, but that does not mean that it is being well-received or offers any valuable insight or contributions. For people trying to brand themselves or a business on social media, solely looking at vanity metrics to determine value can also be ineffective. Getting plenty of likes from sharing a seductive photo or product reveal on social media does not necessarily translate into positive reception from your social media audience or guarantee product sales. While likes and followers make us feel good, they are not a strong indicator of the value inherent in what we share on social media. Social media metrics have led to society believing that value can be determined by quantitative figures and vanity metrics because they release a dopamine high. We mistakenly associate this increase in esteem and happiness with an increase in value, even though that is not always the case.
One potential societal consequence of carelessly valuing social media metrics is creating a society that essentially panders to their audience by creating content that they believe will be well-received and popular instead of creating content that may provide superior value, but does not guarantee fame or positive reception. Pandering can also stifle originality and creative expression because we are afraid to try new or risky things. This societal consequence is already evident in several types of media in the present. Hollywood producers are hesitant to create stories that reflect ideas or focus on individuals that have not been proven to perform well financially. They also continue to make sequels of movies that have done well and generate new movies by using elements of successful films that came before. New superhero movies and Harry Potter spin-offs, for instance, will continue to be made because they generate wealth, even though they lack originality. There is also a lack of Hollywood films focusing on racial, sexual and religious minorities because executives fear that there is not a large enough audience for them and base their decisions off of qualitative vanity metrics. The recent success of the films “Black Panther” and “Get Out,” which showcase underrepresented groups in the media, demonstrate that copying the formulas for success in prior works is not the only way to guarantee financial success however.
In addition to limiting creativity, carelessly valuing social media metrics could also result in a society that lacks the ability to analyze content and understand what has caused it to attain its value. By solely looking at superficial data, such as views and likes, brands and ordinary citizens could weaken their ability to determine what it is about their content and posts that are being well-received. Not understanding the root of a successful post makes it much more difficult to replicate success in the future because you would not know which elements to copy or change. For instance, if a post was successful because of a witty caption, but the creator thought it was because of the images, the creator might replicate the images in the future instead of the witty post and ultimately not receive the target results on their post that they desired. If we don’t value the right kinds of social media metrics, we won’t know which specific actions translate into financial or reputational success.
While social media metrics increase our sense of self-worth by increasing dopamine levels when the number of likes and followers we have raises, society values vanity metrics more than we should. We should care more about actionable metrics that can explain why our posts and content does well. Failure to do this can result in making content that lacks originality or makes us less capable of specifically understanding the successful actions that we took so that we can repeat them in the future.
