Have you ever had a Facebook post that did not get a single Like?
That seems like a nightmare.
Worse than calling out to someone in the street or in a crowded café full of people you sort-of-know -- just to have that person not acknowledge you, and for you to sheepishly brush it off and resume whatever activity had your attention before you stuck your neck out there -- hoping others will do so as well, quickly.
After a couple hours, if no one Likes it, maybe you should delete it.
But why?
Social media is engineered around the attention of others. Facebook Likes and Reactions. Instagram Hearts. Twitter Favorites and Retweets. Linkedin Likes, Reshares, and Comments. The sole perceptible and amplified measure of the quality of the content - from what the platform highlights to how the platform decides what to show other people - is solely determined by the reaction of other people. Therefore, people craft content primarily for the reaction of other people, more so than the pure intent of the message be it to share an opinion, relay a story, or anything else.
This is dangerous. This is not how we spend the rest of our lives. When we speak with our partners or our children, we say things we believe, things we think will help them or ourselves, and we don’t speak when it’s not necessary or desired. But on social media, the incentives are skewed and if you cannot get the reaction of others, it is not worth it.
Such an environment breeds a lower quality discourse and rewires how we think about what is even worth saying.
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There's a heart button below this post. Should I smash it?
What compelled you to post this Observation? It's a good one, but I'm sure you struggled with the irony. Was the Ego involved? The web is a tricky place to avoid the specter of narcissism.