Social media hasn’t left anyone alone. Almost all of us are using either one or all of them. It all started with a good intention about connecting with people across the globe. But now it has mostly turned into a numbers game. Likes, Views, Comments, Subscribers etc have taken the front seat now.
Just with this one simple change, conversations have turned into numbers. People post for likes, replies or engagement more than to spark actual conversations. This is amplified with these new strategies of leveraging your audience to sell something.
Observe how you react to the numbers on your post or tweet. So much talk gets thrown about how to ignore, but it’s really difficult to ignore. Next time when you see a number, notice your emotional response.
There is also this psychological game of numbers. Social media apps use those to keep you engaged in their platform and the numbers also keep you coming back to the app.
Example:
I made good amount of money recently.
vs
I made 10,000$ in the last 1 month.
Can you see the difference? The one with the numbers grabs your attention. It’s not only about the numbers though, it’s also about specificity. “Made good amount” is relative, so people don’t react to it. But with a specific number, you get an immediate response from the users.
I say this to my friends about social media “You talk to people who are far away, and ignore people who are sitting next to you”.
There is both good & bad to social media. Use it sensibly and understand that most of what you see on social media is not true. Someone might be making 100,000$, but their life might be miserable.