I had just bought myself an Olympus Pen 7 and decided that I wanted to see how it works with fashion and travel photography. I stumbled on www.ciaraodoherty.com, and as i was about to exit, one of her recent posts caught my attention, it is titled ‘No likes needed’. It not only snatched my attention, I was also introduced to a whole new topic for my blog.
Dove launches a #NoLikesNeededCampaign to help boost self esteem and body confidence in young ladies.
Dove conducted a research in the United Kingdom; which revealed that 6 out of 10 girls feel more prettier and confident online than in real life, especially when their pictures attract a lot of validation ‘likes’, which implies that – the opposite is the case when their selfies do not attract as many likes.
Unsurprisingly, the research also shows that 42 percent of girls feel dissatisfied with their appearance due to social media; which I think is the reason for online bullying and hate. When people feel horrible about themselves, they aim at bringing others down with them; because they think it’d make them feel better if everyone else feels as rotten as they themselves feel.
Dove therefore created a campaign titled ‘No Likes Needed’, as a result of their uncovering. The hashtag #NoLikesNeeded is designed to encourage girls begin to realize that the only ‘like’ that counts is their own.
Let’s be real! I haven’t met a person who doesn’t just adore it when their pictures get a lot of likes, it feels great doesn’t it? A lot of people, I included, have been caught in the trap of ‘the number game’ of needing as many likes and followers as possible. The need to feel validated or perceived as ‘important’ is the reason why some even go as far as purchasing followers and likes, just to be seen as relevant, interesting or beautiful.
The Likes and follow business – I have been on instagram for a while now, and I’d like to think of myself as smart enough to have observed the MANY ways in which people go about the likes and follow business.
The use of social media bots – The creation of the use of social media bots began with the realisation that the key to social media popularity is engagement. Quite obviously, most people will reciprocate the love shown towards their page. Instagramically speaking *pun intended*, you might have also observed that certain people (esp bloggers and businesses) with a lot of followers and likes utilize the strategy of following people, and then un-following them a few days after these people follow back. All these are usually done with the use of bots. Although I had, and still have – a desire to broaden my audience, I just – on a personal level, found this a bit of a deceitful approach. I am by no means the most honest person in the world, neither am I interested in being so; but I generally am not the type to intentionally mislead anyone; neither am I against it if others choose to. Curious? Read more on Forbes – Do Evil – The Business Of Social Media Bots
Society teaches that – It is more important how people see you than how you see yourself, and if others don’t like you; then there is something you must fix.
A lot of people agonize and fuss over the impression they create over text and social media; they participate in the emotionally draining act of constantly checking their social media accounts to view the amount of likes they have received. As stated by Lady Gaga in an interview where she opens up about some of the aspects of her personal life –“This is the age that we live in, we’re not actually communicating with each other. We’re unconsciously communicating lies.”
On a personal note
The need to expand one’s online audience is a big one, especially for those of us who own blogs that we seek to promote. Blogging for me began as an interest, an interest I then proceeded to indulge in – purely for the thrill of it. There is an extremely high tendency however, to become trapped in the shackles of the social media hype and noise, that soon, one begins to dance to its beat, rather than dance to one’s own unique beat. This is the point where people begin to selectively post their updates, no longer based solely on what they like, but partly influenced by how much they think others might like them…
I got to a point however, where I no longer was willing to play in that game. My natural inclination is to be myself, not just in my everyday life, but also with regards to the way I engage on social media. I no longer was willing to like a bunch of pictures in other to attract a whole bunch of audience to my page and blog, it isn’t who I am, and it drains one energetically; therefore I reoriented myself and set myself free of all the cumbersome burden.
Our social media page should represent our own unique truth; not the truth of what brings em audience to the yard. I soon realised, for myself, that I no longer wanted to engage with others for the partial motive of promoting my blog; I desired for my engagement with others on social media to be nothing but honest and sincere, and for my social media accounts to reflect only the things that ring my bells, not the things that stand the most chance of attracting others to my blog. I am a nonconventional type, which implies that a lot of my opinions are unpopular. I should however, be able to share my entire truth without putting into consideration their likelihood of appealing to others. I’d love to connect with like minded people, which requires that my platforms must represent the things that I love, fancy and stand for, ONLY.
Lastly, it is important to realize that you are just as significant as anyone on the planet, and the level of your worthiness does not hinge upon the amount of likes or validation you receive from others. You do yourself a great deal of disservice when you begin to allow people’s opinion of you be a major variable in the level of your confidence, because your confidence can only be as stable or as precarious as the source of it.
The world is filled with such diversity, you won’t and can not be everyone’s cup of tea, which is a good thing. You are a distinctively unique being, therefore not everyone is or will be your audience. Just be yourself, and you will attract the right audience for you! Xoxo
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Thanks for your time xoxo.
