#WOKE
A direct association has been made between amount of likes/ views to the equivalent of how much they’re valued.People validate their self worth through high numbers, confidence is then hindered when number’s of views/ likes are low. In an article posted on Psychology today, Dr. Liraz Margalit affirms the power of the like,
“Like has become much more than just a positive reaction toward a post or update; it has evolved into a feedback toward the person her/himself. As a rule of thumb, the more likes you get, the more loved you’ll feel” (Margalit, 2014) .
If numbers of likes determine how good someone feels about themselves, people will evidently steer away from posting material that wont receive as much ‘clout’ so as to avoid deflating their own ego. People personally take to heart what they post on social media, and the reaction that it receives thus paints a bigger picture for the individual.
This is the average user thought process: By liking my photo you’re not just liking a picture of my morning coffee, you’re liking how my day is going, my lifestyle choices, you’re liking me. On the other side of the spectrum, when someone doesn’t receive a like from someone they know, they personally feel offended — by not liking my photo you’re disliking my morning coffee, you’re disliking my day, you dislike me. This will obviously lead to miscommunication and in the long run affect relationships. Although it seems obvious from an analytical perspective how the connection between likes and value is non existent, somehow we are submerged in this habitual cycle nonetheless.
People place the highest value on movements/ people/ things that go viral.
Let’s compare and contrast two influencers. Logan Paul and Lisa Nichols.
Logan Paul is one of youtube’s highest subscribed channels, with millions of followers (a vanity metric) . In the social media realm people view this person as famous, valuable, rich, and important.
On the other hand, they would view a person like Lisa Nichols — female author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur — as less successful, why?
All because her social media metrics translate her value to us. She has103k instagram followers, and Logan has 16 million. Logan Paul may be rich and famous, but valuable? and important?More so than people like Lisa? People who’ve made positive effects on broken lives? or people who mock the dead for entertainment purposes? the answer is leaning towards no.
So why do we care about numbers? When looking at these two and their fanbase, from a mathematical lens, Logan Paul does outweigh Lisa’s success — his social media has 155x the amount of activity, following, and visits than Lisa. Math may give away many answers, but it cannot unlock one, the human psyche.
Potential societal consequences on carelessly valuing social media metrics? We are leading the way to a shallow generation. Already people buy into appearances, and fail to dig deep for purpose seeking. We are crossing a dangerous divide in which people are blurring vanity metrics (likes, views, followers), with other factors we should consider when calculating one’s value and success.
References
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/behind-online-behavior/201405/our-obsession-part-1
