In our society it's become an addiction. And when taken to the extreme, it does not help us. In fact, it does the complete opposite.
What ever made us believe that having the most likes or most followers or most friends made us better? It doesn't. It's just a stupid number that is meaningless. It doesn't show you how kind you are, how caring you are or how understanding you are. It is in no way an indicator of how beautiful/handsome you are. It's just a number.
But we put so much emphasis on the numbers. We feel like nobody if we only have 100 friends on Facebook. But who really even has 500 friends in real life? Argue if you must, but in all reality. Do you honestly have over 500 friends you are close with? Not aquaintences. Not family. But actual friends.
Why are we so obsessed with a number that is so meaningless? Why do we care that so-and-so got more likes on their selfie than yours got? Why do we let the numbers rule over us?
I can't stress it enough...THEY MEAN NOTHING!
They aren't what matter most in life. They have started to destroy us! We are the creators of it, so we are the alpha! Not the other way around! So why do we let them control us? Why do you let it control you?
I let it control me. I was consumed by the numbers. It fed into my eating disorder even more. I would see friends have so many friends/followers and mine was "beginner status." I'd see their photos with so many likes and beat myself up about my photos! Do you know how messed up that is?! More likes doesn't mean you're prettier! Who the heck came up with that? Who decided that numbers held more value of determining how great a person is? I tried getting more "numbers" by joining more social networks or by trying out some things lots of people like. You know what I found out? I don't like what a lot of people like. I don't like the Twilight series. I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter. I don't care for superheroes. I hate the Beetles. I think comic con is a joke. I detest rap. I don't really care about football...or most sports. I don't even care much for "college fun." I I can't do scary movies. I'm not a huge fan of art galleries. I don't like "LOL" or things like that. I'm really not that into mountains (I know...I'm surrounded by them). Vines are alright.
Do you get it? I don't like a lot of the things most people my age right now are raving about. So I'd beat myself up for being different and not being like everyone else. All because of a stupid number!!! Now that is messed up. Trying to change who I am for more numbers. Pathetic.
But I still care about the numbers! It's been engraved into my head for some stupid reason. Every "like" I get feeds into it.
Is it bad?
Yeah, it really can be.
But if you stop looking at how many numbers you get and instead start looking at who is interested in it, maybe it can change your perception. It means so much more when somebody I personally know and care about likes something than if some random stranger likes it. Now you shouldn't change who you are so the closest people around you like you more. Just be yourself! Be who you are offline when you are online! It's much better that way.
It may not mean more numbers but you'll be more real than those numbers could ever show you.
Wow.. The other day I was actually thinking about this same topic when I logged into my twitter account. What you talked about is so true! People are crazy about having followers online so much. It's actually annoying sometimes. For instance, a lot of the time on twitter I get posts like "retweet and favorite this tweet if you want more followers" etc.. I mean I don't want such bullshit posts. I want something useful or something that I like. Seeing such tweets and messages is really very annoying. People even buy followers! How sick is that! What's the point of having more followers if they are not reading what you are tweeting or posting?? And yeah, some people do take it as a competition. In reality we only need those people to follow us who actually "like" our posts whether here on blogger or twitter or any other sites. What's the point otherwise?
ReplyDeleteAnd what you said is really true that these are just numbers and not the final judgement or something. People definitely should not take them seriously, and should definitely not let such silly things affect their daily lives.
And yes, being yourself is the key, people will automatically like us.
Thanks for sharing! Started following you! Hope to get more from you :)