Like My Status

The 20s are all about stepping up your digital footprint. In this day and age, we stay constantly connected (perpetually enslaved) tot he interwebs with our smartphones, smart TVs, smart cars, and all the rest of our technologies. It's rare for you to be somewhere and people not be on their phones, texting, tweeting, posting, liking, sharing, browsing, scrolling, and doing the infamous double-tap of likeytude. Oh what a privilege it is to have access to these items but also to be able to disconnect and live life in real time as opposed to vicariously through a touchscreen. Ten years ago, when people entered a restaurant they asked for the non-smoking section and now they ask for free Wi-Fi (and where's the pizza #JLaw crazy voice). There is a constant flood of information and it's a struggle to sift through it all but we do it daily. Some people just have a knack for engaging others on social media. I'm just saying, like my status.



It seems like everyone has that facebook friend who posts things purely to get likes and sometimes it's just so clever you have to go and like, and other times it's painfully obvious. The like has become a universal sign for showing support in the digital cloud world known as facebook. Whether you're celebrating, making a statement, being funny, or going through a tough time, the like is a small but noticeable way of communicating to someone that you are down with whatever they have posted. It's really interesting when a status gets blown up with likes to notice not only who does but those who do not like your statuses or as I like to call them, like-misers. These people will withhold there likes, they may never like something or they'll do it later when the frenzy has finished to not get lost in the shuffle. It's a subtle attention ploy that is one of the oldest tricks in the book. The only thing more powerful than a like is an actual comment. That's taking the whole interface thing one step further and giving a response. You've initiated a conversation and that in and of itself has some real clout especially when we're all peering in to someone's world through a looking glass. I challenge you to not just like people's posts but to comment if and when you have something to say. A like only goes so far. Be frugal with your likes, nobody likes a likeaholic, it's mad annoying and totally ninth grade. Like more often and you'll see the benefits. Please never be a person who likes their own post. It may or may not be sending yourself to outer space (Gravity style ... really Oscars - Gravity tho?) and departing from all semblances of being down to Earth.
 
This week I decided to conduct a little experiment through my facebook page, make some powerful statements (if I do say so myself) and watch as classic checking out occurred. Monday after overhearing a truly foul conversation between a group dudes I waited until peak posting times (meal times, cause you know people are not actually talking to each other just on their phones pretending to pay attention #ourgeneration) and wrong a long ass status calling them out on their sexism. Tell me why it has quickly become my most liked post ever with 163 posts and few more trickling in randomly. It was just me ranting in the most classically me way as possible but apparently it resonated with people. It's been shared, commented on, and even mentioned in real life (that's when you know you've made it ... transcendence to reality) which is awesome. I even received a few messages from total strangers who thanked me for posting it which was totally unexpected. A couple of days go by and I let my page "cool down" so to speak, and post a similar status about the hardships of reconciling code-switching racial identities and being steeped in white dominant culture as a person of color and it didn't even break 40 likes. Coincidence, I think not. People seem to be bound by the rules of identifying or else it's irrelevant to them. If someone cannot personally relate to a sentiment, especially one expressed in the form of a status, tweet or vine (shoutout to all the basic bros from Magcon and Brent Rivera for taking over the popular page with absolute mindless nonsense). When I'm advocating for women's rights people jump on the bandwagon, but when racial equity is brought up people run for the hills. I guess racism is still only for those who have visible race. If and when dominant identified people want to acknowledge that racism is still alive and well, I'll be here waiting, ready and willing to talk about it. It's funny because my feminist post had so much power because I am male and am challenging the chauvinist patriarchy we live in without being patronized since I'm have social power and privilege in this sense. Social justice is about the intersection and valuing of all identities, when you can strive to do that daily, that's when you're going places. Keep the likes, my status will not change.

How to Get Likes
  • Keep it short - People want something engaging as quickly as possible. The fewer words the better. Humor is always welcome and cleverness will make it that more enticing for people to want to like.
  • Tag people - If other people are involved, tag the heck out of them. It widens the viewership of your post and that means more potential people to like it up.
  • Attach a picture of video - Adding a multimedia piece gives people something to look at more than just reading (cause we all know how we feel about that ... but that the Giver trailer tho). The clearer the picture or video, the better (HD all day).
  • Keep it authentic - No one likes thieves, so stealing witty posts from tumblr or the darkest corners of the web is highly frowned up. Don't do it, cause people will notice and it won't blow you up proper.
  • Support others - If you give out likes and comments, people are likely to click on your profile and do the same. Revine, reblog, retweet your heart out and watch people reciprocate.
  • Speak Your Personal Truths - When your genuine self is coming out in a post, it's apparent and people love to see veritas from the people they interact with. Keep it real as much as you can. It'll take you far.


*Here's a quick recap of my week so far from where I last left off. Sunday was a shat ton of meetings with fraternity life, shooting my TV show (check the episode here: Dirty Pop 3/18), and fraternity meeting before a late night run to McDonald's (the repercussions were severe). I passed out afterwards in sweatpants, contacts in, and in the middle of a snapchat. My life had reached and all time low. Monday was knocking work out, hitting campus to do the most, and an RHA executive board meeting. Tuesday was a whole lot of classes (sorry to all three of my professors since I fell asleep in literally all of your classes), and somehow being commissioned to make posters for other campus groups (my productive procrastination pastime). I spent some quality time with my buddy Connor (aka Blue Steel) for a fraternity photoshoot (apparently I'm an event planner, graphic designer and photographer casually) and dinner. We were joined by my hilarious character of an RA, Adam and some RHA people in Bram (Sam and Brendan #bromance). My night was spent reuniting with a long lost buddy, Ben (disappeared into the theater and a capella world) and the always profoundly pensive, Dylan at their hall council meeting. Blue Steel made a reappearance and I sent a couple emails, edited some photos and wrote part of my paper before heading off to an unforgettable experience. Can't say anymore than that but it definitely was interesting to say the least. I made it back to my room late night and my roommate, Jake, was purposeful in listening to story of the day which was much appreciated. Wednesday rolled around and it was a morning talk with Sam in the office before a dining services meeting, physics lecture, solo homework solitude, running an RHA meeting and writing a religion essay. That brings me to now so I guess I'm done. K thanks, done ... bye.
 
Check out of my friends' blogs -
Connor Luong - http://barelyblog.wordpress.com/
Dylan Funnell - http://dtfunnell.blogspot.com/
Jocelin Thomas - http://mojocelin.blogspot.com/
Zulefika Mofokeng - http://prolific-intoxication.blogspot.com/

My blog post question for the day is ... what is your social media platform of choice? Uhm, I always go with twitter. The whole intervention and integration of hashtags has changed my life, for better of worse, that's up to my followers to decide. The whole being able to interface with big name people never gets old.

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