My “proof” that your (and my) social media posts don’t really matter is to mean that they don’t matter significantly. When we compare the time it takes to post a photo (including time to edit, write a punny caption, etc.) to the amount of joy “likes” give us, it seems the benefits of social media do not outweigh our time spent posting. So, why post at all? When it comes to trying to get social validation, social media is basically a red herring. We are under a societal delusion that our posts matter, but they don’t. At least, they don’t in the ways that we deeply long for them to matter. I won’t bore you with research, but to prove my point you must be open to introspection. It’s important to view social media with a realistic perspective and answer the following 8 questions honestly:
1. How many times would you estimate that you “liked” people’s posts last week?
2. Can you think of a specific post you “liked” last week?
Go ahead… I’ll wait right here.
3. How long did it take you to think of that particular post?
4. How much time did you think about that post after “liking” it?
My guess is none.
5. How long after you “liked” it did it take you to stop thinking about that post?
Three seconds? Only long enough to scroll down to the next post on your news feed?
Now let’s flip these questions around…
6. What are those people thinking about your posts on social media?
That’s right. You know the answer. They are not thinking about your posts.
7. So, why do you even bother posting?
If the time spent posting was truly fruitful, we wouldn’t need to keep doing it. We would experience a sense of contentment as opposed to a neediness.
8. So, why do we spend so much time posting, viewing, and “liking” when, in the scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter?
It’s a bit crazy, right? If we don’t really care about other people’s posts, then we know they don’t really care about ours either.
The takeaway…
If you are similar to me and most people, it’s easy to get caught up with what is going on in people’s lives and letting them know what is going on in ours. We spend a lot of time on social media, and we get some benefits from it. But, in the scheme of things, social media is a bit like eating potato chips. They taste good, but they don’t truly nourish our bodies. The time we spend with others in-person is what develops the deep relationships and social connection that we truly “like.”
Click here for more on social media “likes.”