"They love me, they really really love me," I said to my grandma as I gaped at the 50 plus family members at my graduation party. I couldn't help but feel like a superstar. My family had flown in from the Bahamas, Oklahoma, Myrtle Beach, and elsewhere just to come to my graduation party, not even the actual graduation ceremony! Growing up, I never had big parties; I considered myself lucky if two friends showed up to one of my sleepovers. The day of my graduation party was the first time that I genuinely felt popular, and it wasn't just the Facebook popularity that lasted for 24 hours when you made top news.
Social networking sites such as Facebook thrive on popularity. Essentially, every time I log onto a social networking site, I'm confronted with the same question: "What would you do for 10 'Likes?' 20? 50?" It's almost like Mardi Gras in New Orleans where everybody is doing scandalous things to earn a pair of cheap, plastic, Dollar General beads that you could've easily bought yourself. The only thing special about these beads is the person handing them out, because they ultimately decide if you deserve a pair.
Although you can only give yourself one "Like," "Likes" are comparable to Mardi Gras beads in the respect that they have no real value. The value of the "Like" comes from the fact that a majority of your Facebook friends are uninterested in what you ate for dinner, so they keep scrolling. However, the two or three that stop to click "Like" propel you three "Likes" towards popularity. If I can get 20 "Likes" on a picture of my nails, I have successfully reached my popularity goal for the week. Most people aren't content with just 20. They want more, so they do more to earn those "Likes."
I believe the "Like" is more powerful than we realize. So often, people will sacrifice who they are just to gain a "Like," which is ironic because I always hear people say, "I don't care what people think of me." Bullshit. Truth is, we all care about other people's opinions, and we all just want to be "Liked."
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