Instagram - Digital Crack
- janosnadas
- May 1, 2018
- 2 min read
As part of my online digital presence, I have started an Instagram account. When I first created an art website, all you needed was the website. Now it's not enough to have a website or a single social media site. You need to have a website, a social media site, regular posting schedule, followers, etc.
It's a little hectic ... but it makes sense why we need to do all of this.
In today's digital age, we have empowered everyone with access to the internet to learn about everything as well as share anything. Therefore, there is a lot on the internet, maybe too much. So if you want your contribution to break through and be found by your audience, you need to try as many avenues to get it out to them.
Once you find your audience, should your goal be to grow your audience? Should you be satisfied with 0.000000125% of the population liking your post? So let's say your post reaches only 10 people, and 9 of those people "loved" it and one even commented "Awesome." Should you feel bad? No. Never. You have just enriched the lives of 10 people. You added something of value and they have returned the favor by taking the time to let you know by "liking" your
"Likes" are the validation that what you have shared has been found meaningful. The more likes, the more meaningful, and hence the more validation. This is why "Likes" are addictive. And much like a drug, if you slowly increase your likes to 100s, you can get "ambivalent" when you get only 10. You have habituated to the 10s, and you jones for that same high when you got 100. You may even get frustrated that you are only getting low-quality 10s, and will do everything in your power to post just the right picture to get another 100. Because that 100 likes releases the dopamine you are craving for.
The purpose of Instagram is not for dopamine rushes, or at least the creators were not thinking about creating the next digital crack or heroine. It was created to provide users an opportunity to connect and share with other humans. So if you can overcome the addictive nature of Instagram, and just interact with others purely out of altruism - "I want to share for you" - then you are doing something positive and should continue #instagramming.