Do I mean real seals? Well, yes. That’s the image that comes to mind when I see increasingly more posts on social media where instead of comments, it’s the same word or expression repeated at nauseam by users. ‘Comment WHATEVER and I’ll send you a link’ it’s how it’s done. Not a secret link either but something you can otherwise find by yourself on their website with minimal effort. If you want to. Instead, digital promises that marketing wizards have designed to spread like wildfire. Old tricks, new ways to deliver it.
Fooling the algorithm we are, aren’t we. As if.
It’s no longer about exchanging ideas or thought-provoking sharing photos, stories, whatever instances of life as it happens with fellow humans. It’s transactional through and through… because visibility is what matters in the end. Sigh.
A while back it was questions: what’s your favourite whatever, what do you think of this or that… better, right? However. That has morphed into ‘comment XYZ and I’ll send you the link to the podcast’. Easier for everyone: no effort with commenting, none with sending stuff back as it is all automated. Zero human to human engagement.
So, what’s wrong with that, you’ll ask. Well, for starters, it makes us look like we’re seals to be trained. Clap your flippers, here’s your sardine. It’s not even a matter of being interested. Free something if I comment? Heck, why not. It takes a couple of seconds.
Another thing. Influencer posts that display questionable stuff, such as announcing a partnership with a company that relies on human slavery. (Still a very real and horrible reality of our world.) Not so long ago, people, some anyway, would say something, more so after some God-awful news about a calamity at one of the factories that makes the items the influencers are promoting. “Hey, didn’t I just see that on TV the other day. Those poor people… how come you are associated with the company that condones this and so on…”. Usually followed by appeasement. Oh yes, it’s awful and we’re looking into it. In the meantime, check out this lovely, ruffled cotton skirt, just in time for the fall and it’s on sale for a limited time. Akin to some magic memory eraser, the trick works. Rinse and repeat.
But. Over time, this kind of stuff can may hurt both sales and public image, so rinse and repeat has limited applicability. Social media wizards were consulted and voilà! Ask followers to enter their name for a draw when questionable alliances/matters are being posted, instead of letting them drop a negative comment. Hope is free and endless, right? Freebies, no matter how intangible they are, are a magnet of sorts. But it obliterates the elephant in the (digital) room and that’s the goal. So, followers loosen up and do just that instead of asking “hey, isn’t this the same company that was caught with blood on their hands a while back?”. Alas, no such thing. Everyone is happy and we all move along, sardine in hand.
It’s slimy. No offense to sardines or seals. To them it’s a natural occurrence. But we should know and do better.
What’s the solution (not that anyone has asked me, but I volunteer anyway)? Real engagement. I mean, being on social media (no personal details, thank you very much) feels off at the best of times, but if the sole focus becomes numbers and sales and clapping our flippers, respectively, masqueraded as engagement… it’s a waste. Of time, of humanity and of the ability to relate to each other as we ought to, which is in fact what’s keeping us afloat.
Between that and outrage, which is another way to engage people with your content. Just say something to infuriate some, or better yet, pick someone to bring down and you’ll have a militia assembled in no time. Bonus: they’ll take down whoever questions your word, so you don’t have to.
What have we become? To be honest, I don’t know. All I know is that it doesn’t feel like we’re going in a good direction. Am I stuck in being too attached to the idea that we should relate to each other as humans instead of prioritizing transactions? Perhaps. It’s not a recipe for good business, I suppose, not for the kind that builds you an empire of sorts.
I guess I leave you with more questions than answers, but a start to a conversation, nonetheless. And about that trained seal situation. Let’s not.