I see somebody post on social media how he went running after a long time. Great for him. Why this is news worthy isn’t entirely clear to me. It was clear to others. It got him hundreds of likes. Maybe he comes from a very large family and they value his health.
So many people are sharing what they are doing in the gym – posing for selfies and sometimes working out – and so very few people are spreading ideas, talking about the books they are reading, putting out offers for help, sharing what is really going on in their lives. Some of the people I know who often pose with their fitness activities have some serious issues, but they will never talk about that on social media. Ok, maybe I have simply unrealistic expectations of social media. Some of them have some very interesting ideas and have achieved some remarkable things, but somehow those things are not social media stuff.
Without meaning to be harsh towards these people I ask myself why do they do it.
– it gets them likes, obviously. People react to this stuff and people rarely react to a post about a book or complicated idea. If you want likes, a picture in the gym is still a good strategy. Maybe people like this stuff because they wish they would have the motivation to work out or because by liking it they feel they are saying: I am like you, I also have the discipline to work out.
– every single media post ever made is a cry for love. Fitness selfies are no different. And as mentioned above it works, it’s one of the easiest ways to get likes. If I post this blog post on my Facebook profile, yes, it will also be a cry for love.
– it’s not a pleasant activity. I have this theory: the more you feel the need to post your current activity on social media the less you are present in that activity, the less you are enjoying it. In the happiest moments of my life the very laaaaaaaaaast thing I would have considered was to open up social media and post about it. I was too fully immersed in the activity, in the happiness, I had zero need to post it online. So when people post pictures of family outings online, especially in real time, meaning while the family outing is still ongoing, I think: what is missing? Why does that moment not make them happy enough? Why do they need to get likes as a sauce to the family outing to make it more digestible?
And then we like these things – me too sometimes – and we sort of applaud them for…
not being fully present. Not having enough in that moment. Not being fulfilled by the people they are physically with.
The happiest people I know are the least active on social media.
Especially the ones with a very clear purpose in life either don’t use social media or only use these platforms to spread ideas that promote health, happiness, justice, …
This is not going to be a popular blog post…
But if nobody returns fire, you are bombing the wrong targets…
I am actually guilty of this; posting after a run.
But in my case it’s because I’m a lazy fucker without any self-discipline who definitely doesn’t really enjoy a boring run (especially in the beginning when starting again). So the likes actually give me some motivation.
But yeah gym-selfies and showing off your body are very popular in Stockholm.
A bit scary.
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Good to hear from you. It scares me too. Yesterday somebody asked me how I was and I answer that I have read a book and am thinking about it a lot, and the person responds, ‘but tell me how you are’. Well, that IS how I am, I worry about issues. So apparently if I am not worrying about something directly affecting me it doesn’t qualify as an answer to the question ‘how are you?’. All this individualism is getting boring… You will not see this coming:
Where is that article on Swedish women?
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Maybe you feel it like that, because you didnt grow up literally on facebook, instagram and other social medias, which are literally about sharing your life. But for younger generations is it totally normal. Sharing even weather mood or if they have headache or no.
I just stopped to react to things which bother me yeah, but which literally dont burn me I ignore.
I have friends on facebook from everywhere, they are so different and posting different stuff but same themed withing them. Pedro posting daily Madonna things, I guess he is obssesed with it, Laco posting antimmigration propaganda daily, other one posting daily running via endomondo. Repeating it every day. I cant say Im interested in it, but I dont care. I put like on what I like not because it has nice picture or whatever.
Its totally up to us what we follow. Dont forget one thing, this social media sharing life is real job nowadays. Those ppl with thousands of followers live from it.
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Thought-provoking post. Although I think there are some people who are just very popular in a way that they have many friends, admirers, followers, you name it. So it makes them happy to share something with their audience and the audience is happy too. I am fine with that exchange. Perhaps I would post more too if I knew I had an audience as well. 🙂 Sometimes I share a photo from a trip or vacation and usually my closest friends appreciate it. But I do that rarely too. Whenever I posted something more of an intellectual kind, it didn’t get much attention. Maybe I didn’t sell it well, who knows. But I don’t care too much either. 🙂
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I should have added that I am fine with that exchange but, of course, only if it’s not some kind of harmful content.
I do follow couple of Slovak journalists, writers or political scientists who usually post interesting, thought-provoking stuff and they get quite a lot of attention. Often their posts are followed by a good discussion in the comments. But why this is not a more widespread phenomenon, I don’t know. 🙂
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