Social media has changed the way we relate to our surroundings. When Facebook emerged and began its viral explosion, millions of people got something they had not had before, a personal website. That website allowed you to show yourself as you are, upload images of yourself, share with your close friends what worried you, tell what you used to tell your friends in real life, even tell what you would not tell another person face to face.
In this opinion article I will indicate what you should not do if you are on social networks where you are getting the opposite effect of what you denounce or pursue. Above all, I’m going to criticize people who create content without respecting others. They’re not really creating content, they’re creating controversy, creators of polemics.
- Do not viralize what is not important to you
- Don’t be afraid of bad education on social media
- Do not visit any social network of toxic people
- Don’t criticize by wasting your time on social media
- If you follow those toxic people, you may need to change your habits
- Do not value a product badly because of how it has come to you
- Summary of social media
Do not viralize what is not important to you
On Twitter it is common to create trends of people who criticize that trend. If you are going to criticize a word or person think that deep down you are rewarding that word or person and the “engagement” goes up, the commitment. It doesn’t matter if that commitment is positive or negative. The result is the same, there are more people who talk about something, and the algorithm of the platform rewards it by offering that juicy candy to more people, who use that word again.
Literally, in a matter of minutes, a story or opinion can spread to millions of people. Clearly, the speed with which such a story spreads depends on the degree of influence of the nodes (user accounts) that immediately adopt the story. If a node fails, if a node does not participate in that spanning tree, the possible nodes that could play that same content are cut.
Don’t be afraid of bad education on social media
Every day there is news that goes viral. Its degree of virality is directly proportional to the number of people who share it. There are many youtubers and instagramers who offer promotion of a site or local in exchange for free food. Deep down, this behavior is correct, but only if the other party agrees to do so.
In Spain in the last week a youtuber has become famous who broke into a tapas place in Vigo and ate a dumpling and then did not want to pay for it because he was doing “promotion” of the establishment. His behavior, irresponsible and bordering on bad manners, did not go unnoticed and turned a simple live video of someone anonymous (he was until this controversy was uncovered) into a tsunami of people sharing the video and talking about that person. This fact led to what is seen in Fig. 1.
That is, instead of ignoring that person and not watching their videos, they have managed in 3 days to go from 1000 daily views to more than 250,000. But not only that… has gained more subscribers to its channel from 0 to 100 to more than 800 per day. Are we crazy or what? We reward his pitiful performance with money for his pocket. And he will be delighted with it and surely makes a video thanking all this “hate” of money that has fallen from the sky. I have not accessed his Youtube channel, I only searched for him without accessing, nor have I entered any of his accounts on social networks.
Do not visit any social network of toxic people
There is no greater reward for these characters than increasing their social media stats. Since they don’t work basically their day is to surf the internet and see their stats, trying to come up with some new topic to feed their herd of fans. I am sure that many of them who gain notoriety for their despicable action the next day boast that they have uploaded the number of visitors to their website, Youtube or Instagram. You have precisely entered their game. If you gain visits the algorithm of the social network notices that peak of activity and suggests more that YouTube channel or Instagram account. It is precisely the opposite of what should happen.
Don’t feed these people’s egos. You have to watch videos that interest you, not out of morbidity or curiosity. Here is a list of videos if you prefer to see cats before these characters -> https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cats+shorts. Do not watch videos out of curiosity to know what that person is like who has humiliated a worker or who has said something politically very incorrect.
Don’t criticize by wasting your time on social media
Over the years one realizes something that being young we do not give importance, time. We have less and less time and it is best to spend it on what really interests us. Am I interested in spending my finger on insulting another person that I neither follow nor will I ever follow in my life? The answer is no, I’d rather watch other content or not jump like a spring at anything bad going on around me.
If something bothers me all social networks have a button to report a post. Use that button, but don’t write a paragraph insulting or giving your opinion because no one cares. Your opinion doesn’t change the world, your actions do.
If you follow those toxic people, you may need to change your habits
What I find most striking about this phenomenon of rewarding the toxic is that this toxic has followers. They are people, who deliberately, without anyone forcing them, follow that creator of controversy because it makes them funny or you go to know the reason. In addition… that character has a fan base that supports him, regardless of what he does.
And if you raise a flock that flock will do what you tell them because they have no critical spirit. I would love to know if those people when they mature realize that they have wasted time of their life in supporting someone who does not contribute anything. Deep down that flock are the same as their alpha male sheep.
These controversial characters are distinguished very quickly because they are the ones who create the videos that people later criticize, themselves, not a hidden camera. In his head it sounds good and then when there is a barrage of allusions he apologizes for his action.
Do not value a product badly because of how it has come to you
If you have to rate a book, value the book. There are many reviews on platforms in which people complain that the order has reached them badly. If the order has arrived badly, do not waste your time clicking on REVIEW > WRITE REVIEW. Spend your time clicking on the RETURN ORDER button, do not involve humanity in information that is useless. As an example, this verified purchase on a sales platform.
1.0 out of 5 stars IN POOR CONDITION IS NOT NEW Reviewed in Spain on July 27, 2022 Verified purchase
We bought the NEW book because it was for a gift and a SECOND HAND one has arrived, with the corners overwhelmed and with a piece of the paper stole that closes it broken inside. The sheets open easily, you can tell it has already been read. I have to give a star because it is the minimum that can be done but it does not deserve any. We are increasingly disappointed with shopping for .
Summary of social media
In a world dominated by the internet, social networks are a showcase where anyone can give their opinion. Starting from the basis that this is positive, however, in many cases an effect is achieved very far from the one pursued. What is abhorred goes viral, and anonymous characters become popular for how they act.
In this article I have commented on why you are using social networks badly. In it I have talked about a case that has gone viral in Spain this week. However, I have not mentioned anywhere in the article the name of the person who created this controversy. I know that due to this small detail this article will not be very viewed since I will not appear in Google searches for the keyword, which in this case is the name of that character. The algorithm doesn’t value a person’s ethics or morals, it only values numbers, and if it sees a spike in activity on a keyword, it will index pages that have that keyword to deliver what people are looking for.
For me what matters is the message and its content, and not the numbers, but in a world dominated by algorithms it may not be the best idea since you will not earn money or repercussion. Social media is governed by machines that act according to numbers, not according to what is right or wrong. What hurts these controversial creators the most is precisely that no one listens to them, and that is precisely what must be done.
