I Got 3000 Likes on an Instagram Comment

Retrospection of how social media has degraded our consumption of content and information.

After a blowout loss during Monday Night Football against the Arizona Cardinals, the Dallas Cowboys’ record fell to 2–4. Despite their losing record, they managed to stay at the top of the NFC East , one of the historically worst divisions in NFL history. As a result, the division has now become one of the greatest laughing stocks of the NFL.

Scrolling though Instagram after the game, I came across the post that is featured above. With the caption asking who is going to win the division, I laughed to myself thinking how crazy it is to even consider one of these teams as a “winner” - they’re all losers! Not thinking too hard about it, I shared a comment on the post regarding these thoughts, and then went to bed.

Waking up in the morning, I was extremely confused as to why I had received notification for being mentioned in 16 comments. When I went to look at the comment I had posted, it had amassed over 2500 likes overnight. I was taken aback in amazement as a comment I did not think twice about got more likes in one night than all my posts combined.

So, how did I manage to get the most liked comment on a post with over 100k likes? It was easy actually; but the underlying causes as designed by social media companies are far more complex, important, and scary.

Here’s how I did it:

• Possess background knowledge: As someone who is up-to-date with all my football information, trends, and memes, I was well equipped to make a relevant comment that others related to and would enjoy.
• Find a post that will get likes: nflmemes_ig consistently receives over 100,000 likes on their posts, widening the potential audience that might view the comment.
• Comment early: I made this comment roughly 19 seconds after the original post was uploaded. Not only is this time when the majority of people are going to see the comment, but Instagram pushes the most liked comments at the top, leading to even more likes and views.
• Like the comment: Building off of the previous point, liking the comment early meant that in the sea of comments with no likes, mine stood out. This action dramatically accelerated the early-stage growth of my comment.
• Comment often: While this was my first explosive comment, this was not my first time trying. After enough attempts with the right timing, punchline, and external factors, a comment is bound to grow eventually.

Dopamine, social media, and stopping cues

Social media is one of the most powerful and addictive drugs ever conceptualized, all by design of their creators.

Dopamine, a chemical that is released by our brain when we are happy, as a result of doing or consuming something we enjoy. Consequently, our brain craves dopamine, which social media giants have exploited.

Let’s imagine a co-worker brought delicious home-made cookies into work and put them out for everyone to enjoy. Seeing, smelling, and visualizing the consumption of that cookie makes your brain crave the dopamine associated with eating. Ultimately, you will get up and eat the cookie, releasing the much desired dopamine.

This same principle applies to social media consumption. When you start thinking of social media, or hear the buzz of your phone, it is so easy to pull out Instagram or Twitter and start scrolling through the abyss of content. After seeing one funny image, video, or comment, our brains desire more, and we will swipe to the next post, and the next, and next and so on.

The largest difference between cookies and social media is that with cookies, there is a stopping cue. When you start eating a cookie, you will eventually finish it. You might not stop at one, but eventually you will get to the end of the box, or you will feel sick enough to the point you stop eating; eventually you come to a natural stopping point. The same is not true for social media.

On Instagram Facebook, or Twitter, there is no end, finale, or destination. They are designed to put a constant stream of content that is specifically tailored to you, all to satisfy your craving for dopamine and get your attention.

That’s scary.

The profound impact on content consumption

Fitting the pieces together, we now understand how my comment epitomizes the ideal content apps like Instagram want to push forward.

Content consumption is no longer about the depth and quality of ideas or information; social media has made it about consuming the greatest amount of content to enrich our dopamine cravings and dependance.

More deeply, content and information consumption is turning into a form of entertainment, rather than being about substance and importance. Our attention spans are rapidly shrinking as long pieces of content are unable to satisfy our rich craving for dopamine. And so we opt for shorter content.

Next time you’re using social media, be intentional and internalize what you are really doing on it. Did you actively choose to go on? Are you fulfilled from being on it? Do you feel any better going on social media than you did before? Do you even remember the post you saw just 30 seconds ago?

The answer: probably not.