Wassup my fellow dreamers!
So today, I wanted to talk about something that I see alot of nowadays. I notice, there is this ever increasing trend of people sharing things they truly dislike, even to the point of it becoming a "viral" hit. Then, said people who've done the sharing sit in pure shock. They wonder how this "awful" and "terrible" thing that they cannot stand is still somehow moving and making waves. And I'm just over here watching all this like....how do you not get it?
You see, nowadays, popularity is marked by activity. Likes, comments, shares, all of these things are a numbers game. Doesn't matter what it is. A post, a picture, a video, if it's generating activity, I guarantee you will come across it on at least one of your social media timelines. And that's cool. Sort of. What trips me out though, is when I see people sharing something saying "Omg look at how awful this is!" Yet somehow, they are completely ignoring the thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of views and comments said item is generating. In other words, when you share something you dislike, YOU ARE HELPING IT GET MORE TRACTION!
That said, I understand the logic. There's that initial shock value and impulse. I too am guilty of it. But I have grown and as such, I've tried to examine this behavior through a different lens. Proper etiquette is simple. If you don't like something, don't follow it. Don't give it your time or attention. I am not exaggerating when I say that when you do nothing but sit around and watch the moves of others just to criticize them, YOU ARE HATING! That is the pure base of hater behavior. And like I said before, I'm not trying be all holier than thou when it comes to this matter cause I've done it. Especially with the music out right now that's considered "popular." But I had to step back and look at what I was doing. It wasn't benefiting me to talk down on any of these new artists and their work. Most I could do within reason, is share my opinion on their work and that's about it. There's literally no point in investing time into things that you "hate."
Now, I don't feel like this is just the result of individuals with nothing else better to do, constantly trying to stir the pot (i.e. the dreaded internet trolls & keyboard warriors). If you take a moment and really look at it across the board, hating on things has become a culture all it's own. Think about when you review something on yelp, or google. It's a well known fact that people are generally more inclined to leave a negative review over a bad experience, as opposed to leaving a positive review for a good experience. Also, a positive review is typically conditional. More often than not, it has to be one hell of an experience to have you ranting and raving to all of your friends. I'm not at all suggesting that this is always the case, I'm simply speaking from my own experience and observations. And I feel that these kinds of things have worked their way into the very fabric of our society. It's just what happens. And that's terrible considering someone who is actively pursuing a dream or some sort of success, often is told that the best measure of how well you are doing is by the amount of haters that you have. Maybe that's reading too much into it. I don't know.
In short, I want to express this. If you like something. And I mean genuinely appreciate it, then share that. Share it because it makes you happy. More importantly, share it because the person who put the time into creating it needs that support. Don't waste your time trying to break someone else down just because you don't like what they do. That's counterproductive. Instead, invest your efforts into building someone up that you truly appreciate and support.
Thanks for reading. Until next time dreamers!
#DreamBigGrindHardCreateMore