Is This All We Really Want from Life?

Blogging, family, happiness, humor, lessons learned, Teaching and Education 1 Minute

As I noted in last night’s post about my venture into Instagram, I just finished a great book that offered a lot of insight into how Instagram got started and the impact it has had on society.

The book highlighted several times how many of the users of Instagram are obsessed with the number of likes and comments they can get for their posts, and the pressure they feel to post “perfect” photos.

And while that is certainly concerning, I was perhaps more surprised at one point when the author, Sarah Frier, noted that even the top influencers and celebrities are concerned with how people are going to react to their posts.

So that got me thinking.

What if that’s all we really want in life – for people to like us.

Whether it’s in real life or online.

Don’t we all want that feeling of being accepted, to feel like we’re part of a community?

So maybe our goal in life really isn’t to find our purpose or to find out what life is all about or about helping others.

Some people may say they don’t care if people like them; either they aren’t quite telling the truth or they could be a sociopath.

I’ll admit that I am guilty of such behavior. I might say I don’t care how many likes I have for one of my posts, but that’s not quite true.

I hope people like me, both in real life and in cyberspace.

Why would I want the opposite outcome?

So there you go – no need to read any fancy books on philosophy. I’ve saved you the time.

Life is all about being liked.

P.S. Here’s confirmation of my premise from Sally Field:

P.P.S. After reading this post, I realized I might be the sociopath…

P.P.P.S. Despite what you may think of this post, please do me a favor and like it… 🙂

 

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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61 thoughts on “Is This All We Really Want from Life?”

  2. Humans are narcissistic creatures. We like a attention to varying degrees. Personally I find worrying about the perfect pic for Instagram way to much work. Haven’t posted to my account in months. I prefer to use my words, which is also why I started blogging.

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  6. I have an Instagram account with something like seven posts in two years. Just not my deal. I think your basic point about people just wanting to be liked is basic psychology. Lots of advertisements make this pitch and prey on this vulnerability in people.

    Great clip of Sally Field. I think I like it so much because her joy is genuine and not contrived.

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  9. What we really need are more buttons – Double Like, Really Like and Genuinely Like …. and Really Genuinely Like. You know you have a problem when you get upset because that relative on Instagram never Likes your pictures when you always Like hers!

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  10. Is this about being “liked” or is it more a desperate need for attention? The deep desire to be seen, noticed, and recognized in this sea of humanity. Social media has definitely changed how we connect in our society, but I am just not sure that it is all good. Great post, Jim!

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  12. You are right, who doesn’t want to be “liked” ? Why write posts if we don’t want anyone to read them? The problem with the whole social media “like” thing is how some people base their complete self worth on how many “likes” they get. Thats taking it too far!

    I laughed at the sociopath comment. Made me think of a quote for my post tomorrow. You will like it. 🙂

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  14. I loath my addition to validation on wordpress. I put 100% of my energy into every post, therefore I’ve ‘done my best.’ That I only get a dozen or so likes drives me nuts. It’s helpful to see others crave the same thing. Makes me feel less immature. About 20 years ago, I harbored an unnatural crush on Sally Field in the old tv show Gidget.

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    1. yes, I check my stats way too often, and there’s really nothing to be gained from doing so. It’s not I am trying to make money off my blog. (I’d be in trouble if I were.)

      And I also had a crush on Sally Field… 🙂

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  15. I think it natural that we want people to like us, but it can become an obsession for some. The vacuous airheads who are famous for being famous, with no apparent talents or skills, have much to answer for.

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    1. Yes, the obsession is a problem, and a big part of that comes from the fact that you can make some big money if you get popular on social media.

      And what a strange thing to be known for – famous for being famous…

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      3. TV companies pay huge amounts to broadcast the games, clubs make huge amounts of money out of those deals, the players realise they are box office and want their cut. We get it here with Premier League football, and the effect has filtered down through the leagues: the game is much more true to its roots at lower levels though.

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      4. There is a lot of money in sports, and I am happy to see that the athletes are getting their fair share. But should they be making more than doctors and nurses and teachers and social workers?

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      5. Of course they shouldn’t, but life has never been fair, has it? At least they are being overpaid for actually doing something, rather than just posting selfies.

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  16. “…not sure I ‘like’ where this is going, but hey! The lighting here is perfect as is my duck face pout #feelingblessed”

    😆🤭

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      1. Oh boy then do you have a good few seasons ahead of you. I myself prefer season two onwards, because that’s where they really explore how our near future could be like, with tech being what it is. There’s one episode that explores killer robots (the dog ones THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THE MARKET). Scary stuff.

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  18. Hi Jim, you always entertain me with your comments about social media and likes and followers, etc. I am glad I have lovely followers who like my imperfect posts and pictures. I never seen perfection as it is impossible to achieve. 95% is good enough for me. Maybe I am also a sociopath?

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    1. I hope to give Instagram a try, just so I can learn more about it, but there are only so many hours in the day. I agree that WP is a nice place to interact with other bloggers…

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