Feeding One's Ego Through Social Media

Illustration by John Holcroft

How many 'likes' does one need to feel fulfilled and satisfied? British artist, John Holcroft, nicely summarizes society's current magnetism towards social media in this one illustration. Nowadays people of all ages, especially the younger generation, are drawn to Facebook, Twitter, etc...because these mediums provide them with opportunities that were never available before. This includes forming some type of connection with their favorite celebrities, and to some extent becoming a celebrity themselves. For instance, individuals will go to YouTube to post videos, knowing that they will get some type of views, and hopefully become famous one day. Justin Bieber is a prime example of how a young Canadian kid on YouTube can get scouted for his singing talent. However, do these individuals realize what is happening behind their screen?

The documentary, "Generation Like" exposes how teenagers has migrated to the web for cultural interactions, and this movement has started the game of 'cat-and-mouse.' In the past, corporations have used various marketing techniques to catch their audiences' attention, ranging from hiring celebrities to endorse their products to buying up time slots on television so they can air their commercials. In contrast, social media users, especially teenagers, are now being seek to advertise for these same corporations. As a result social currency, such as "likes" and "retweets" has become a thing in the monetary world. Social currency helps social media users buy branding, money, and fans.

These monetary values might be important to some users, however, it seems like it is the validation of their presence that is significant to them. Receiving the "100 likes" substantiates that their post reached at least 100 people, and of that 100 people, they share the same interest. In our current society, the worth of validation has inflated. No longer do people feel satisfied with "100 likes" or "100 followers," but reaching that next "100" is the goal, which forms a endless circle. In a way social media has become a 'drug' since it is so addictive. People want to get that same 'happy' feeling again and again, and the only way to do this is by posting more. So going back to our main question, how many "likes" does one need to feel fulfilled or satisfied? People still seek empowerment from social media, but moreover they want to receive the instant gratification they will obtain by posting on social media.