Is Social Media just a popularity contest?

United States
June 10, 2016 10:09pm CST
Okay so this is kind of controversial (I think) but maybe it will start a little bit of discussion on the topic (probably not). Now when I say "Social Media" I don't just mean myLot, I'm throwing Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine, Youtube, Keek, Tout, Instagram, etc: all of them in the same category. Just social media in general. It has always occurred to me that no matter how smart you are, no matter how "real" you are, no matter how much you bring up topics that should be talked about, its always the pretty ones or the famous ones or the ones willing to degrade themselves for views that get the most attention. Why is that? I guess you're not getting that instant gratification if a girl isn't posting pictures half naked or in very little clothing, but the girls that are just as beautiful with clothes on don't really get much, if any, attention. I saw a picture one day of a girl wearing just a tube top with all her goodies out on Twitter and she got somewhere around 400,000 retweets and there were some people that even screencapped it and posted it on Facebook where it got another 100,000 before it was taken down. While a girl taking a selfie fully clothed in a tasteful dress gets around 200 likes or retweets. On youtube, a girl or guy can get millions of views and subscribers in a short amount of time if they are "hot" but have an awful quality video and overall crappy content; while other youtubers that have really good content but are "average" looking may get the same amount of views and subscribers but it would take them substantially longer to get there. On here - and this doesn't have to deal with anyone in particular - I have seen several good quality discussions that have little to no activity on them. Let's take for example this discussion, this discussion that you are reading right now - if you are in fact reading it - probably won't get much interaction with it. Why? Because I'm just not interesting or "popular" in any aspect of social media, not just myLot. Let someone like Kim Kardashian, Farrah Abraham, Rihanna, or some other "celebrity or "popular social media star" post anything - they could even be talking about going to take a dump in an alleyway -, people are chomping at the bit to give them attention; but let me or one of my friends post something real, legit, and intelligent there will hardly be any response. I mean, c'mon, this isn't high school anymore, those looks that instagram "model" has are going to fade in the next few years; that girl (or guy) reading the book and making business plans, those smarts aaren't going anywhere for a long time. I don't know, maybe I'm just ranting, but am I right; is social media just a popularity contest
2 people like this
2 responses
@allknowing (137769)
• India
11 Jun 16
I am immune to such attempts made by others to become popular. They get there by foul and dirty means. We should just ignore them and move on.
• United States
11 Jun 16
Smart people do, gullible people will put them on a pedestal
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137769)
• India
12 Jun 16
@TheDemonicAngel I see that happening here (lol)
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
11 Jun 16
it often is a popularity contest - Shakespeare would probably struggle on here while Paris Hilton would do very well with hardly any content