Am I Seeking Validation? The Inevitable Pressure of Social Media
Updated: Sep 5
In my first blog post, I made a brief commentary and stated that there’s an unseen pressure on social media that involves promotion, SEO, marketing, and potentially lying, etc., for a quick dollar because now everything is a “business,” and in today’s modern society, I still stand firm in that belief. I grew up in the world of Myspace, LimeWire, etc., when Instagram and Facebook weren’t so focused on Meta and artificial intelligence. Social media was actually used as a form of self-expression with the intention of authenticity at its core. Now with that being said, I also believe seeking some type of validation has always been prevalent when it comes to an online presence because technically, it’s a choice to post something or not and if or when we finally decide to unplug from the digital world, (YouTube, Meta, etc.) there’s a real world waiting to be explored with real people who may or may not be as inclusive/exclusive and kind/ruthless as the personas we display on the internet and social media. The brutal truth is, having a large presence on social media may or may not happen, and I had to really sit with myself and determine if I was starting this to become ”viral”. The internet and social media can be a beautiful place full of learning and wholesome goodness, but it can also be pretty scary, and there are just certain things I don’t want to find or look at, but that’s life. The “good” needs the “bad“ and vice versa.
Even as I lay here typing this with my hair all over my head, I feel like there are also some genuine communities online that we can learn from. Personally, I don’t see artificial intelligence going anywhere anytime soon, and with evolution being an inevitable force to be reckoned with, only time will tell when it comes to how far human beings will choose to push and reconstruct the symbiotic relationship between nature and technology.
For me personally, thinking about whether I’m seeking external validation feels strange or like a contradiction. I don’t believe it matters to me as much anymore, but I definitely feel like I want to connect with individuals who also enjoy the curiosities and contradictions of life (Maybe I should’ve gotten a degree in philosophy), but that’s neither here nor there; back to the point…I’ve found through Reddit and Quora that there are actually spaces where this happens, but they’re just as chaotic as any other social media platform. With my own personal blog, there’s a controlled intimacy about it that allows me to be found (kind of like a diamond in the rough). Do I want to be found? Yes…Do I want to grow and evolve? Yes …but do I want to be found by everyone or go viral? Absolutely not. I’ve seen how the internet (well, social media, the news, etc.) builds people up but also tears them down for publicity, views, sponsorships, etc., and I don’t want to be a part of that world. That’s also why I choose who and what I follow nowadays without feeling obligated to fall into the infamous trend of a “follow for a follow” or trying to keep up with things and people I know I couldn’t care less about. I feel like the numbers online boost our ego, but the real vibes happen off the internet/social media, honey; but then again, depending on the individual, I feel like there are beautiful souls out here that don’t mind standing in their authenticity (*cough cough* …including me).
There’s a beauty in authenticity, normalcy, and being able to still walk around in society without bodyguards and all the extra theatrics, that I feel we don’t appreciate sometimes because we see the glitz and glam of what people choose to display on social media. In one of my favorite Marvel movies, Spider-Man, the quote states, “With great power comes great responsibility“ and that’s so true. Now, how individuals with the “great power” utilize it is none of my business, but as I mature and grow as an individual in the real world (and maybe on the internet/social media…I’m trying my best to grow organically in these internet streets). I‘m learning that my validation doesn’t need to come from others on social media, but it’s still okay to be seen and appreciated.
At the end of the day, the only thing that’s truly “real” is the world I see and the people I interact with when I unplug from social media, etc.
More Intimate Thoughts and Perspectives: https://www.dominiquesrobertsw.com/blog
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