Once upon a time before the advent of extreme social media, we had a simple life. Very few had a camera and only important pictures were taken. Many were decently preserved in photo albums. Now pictures and videos are our life. We are always clicking pictures or taking videos or writing or generating content in any form. Every picture or video that is taken has to be “shared” on social media. It starts with innocent sharing of pictures and videos and content with family and friends and might soon grow to the thought “Am I getting enough likes or shares?” (face palm!) If we don’t get enough traction for our posts, we might actually avoid using that social media platform.
“Likes, views, shares, comments” encourage us to post more of similar content on that particular social media platform. Our generation is running on getting more ‘Likes, views and shares’ along with subscribers as well. And to top it all, we have social media companies monetarily rewarding individuals based on the number of views, likes and subscribers. We become “social media influencers” based on our subscribers. So, a person who avoids social media is not good while a social media person is better? How did we become like this?
This age has taken everybody’s personality for a ride. Who knew we would eat dishes, visit places or dress up only for Instagram likes? The concept of ‘sharing’ has been overtaken by the number of likes, views and subscribers. Now, the angle of the pictures and videos are adjusted, multiple takes are done are done just for this? (face palm!) There are also “selfies” taken at extreme places for “likes” and many people have actually lost their lives doing this dangerous thing.
With so many people “liking” a post, a person’s personal information might be more open now. Many might actually visit their profile and learn more about them. This has further led to stealing everyone’s private information like name, address, email address , location to sneakily know more about a person and tailor advertisements to them or hack into their accounts and cause physical and monetary damage.
So, a simple sharing might lead to this:
Sharing —-> number of likes etc ——>monetary compensation —-> privacy leaked
Of course, not everyone and not everything is subject to this. There will be genuinely good content that is shared for the benefit of others without thinking about the “Likes and views”.
If you did like this content, do like and share this post! 😉
This post is for #BlogchatterA2Z 2025!
My friend, I recently came to know about a food influencer made unethical demands to a hotel owner, threatening to damage his brand on their channel if not properly compensated.
One other occurrence, an influencer hit someone in the road, called a party chief’s sister to get him out of the case!
So, I’m confident that we haven’t changed. We are just a old toddy in new jar! Do not worry!
It’s unsettling how our lives have become so intertwined with social media validation. I remember when taking a photo was about capturing a memory, not about getting the perfect angle for likes. Now, it’s all about the numbers, and it’s easy to get caught up in that cycle. Your point about the privacy risks associated with oversharing is something I’ve been thinking about lately. It’s scary to realize how much personal information we inadvertently expose online. The idea that sharing can lead to privacy breaches and even physical harm is a wake-up call. I appreciate your reminder that not all content is about chasing likes; some people genuinely share to help others.