Crowd-sourcing self esteem

It is somewhat ironic that as the power of social media grows, I ask the question on social media – (to follow)

I was chatting to my son and he made a comment about a classmate’s social media post. He said that they were merely “crowd-sourcing self esteem”.  I thought that the concept was quite remarkable and set out to do some research.  This concept was even more remarkable given that my son is 14 and is very much in the demographic of not knowing a time before smart phones and internet.

There havebeen a few articles written on the idea, and some with a greater purpose inmind.  In an article in The Irish Examiner [AB1] (16^thFebruary 2018) the idea was posed of questioning at what age children canassume the responsibility and mantle of pressing “accept” on the terms andconditions of a social media website.

I am taking a completely different approach.   I am taking the approach of my son.

How many of us use social media of some kind to “crowdsource” our self esteem?

When growing up we were told not to boast about achievements; we were told to be modest and understated. Because no one likes the guy in the middle of the room puffing out their chest.

Yet in today's social media world, how many times do we see posts on one of the platforms that are clearly defined as boasting, but posted as if providing useful information. Since when has it become acceptable to tell the world about every aspect of our lives in an attempt to perhaps bring them into our lives? Perhaps it is an attempt to tell the world how great we are, without saying look at me ‘I’m great, and my life is better than yours’. 

Many people vicariously live their lives on social media

A simpleexample is the friend on Facebook who always put up posts of food.  Sounds informational, right? However when youconsider that the posts originate from top restaurants a pattern starts toemerge.  These people like to be known asthose who go out to the newest and most expensive eateries.  So in a not so subtle way they are boastingabout this and crowdsourcing self esteem.

The biggerquestion is whether this is what social media has been reduced to. Is it merelya vehicle to crowdsource self esteem or does social media play a deeper, andpossibly more meaningful role in our lives? Or possibly, is social media a way of assuaging the natural voyeur inus, or boost the natural exhibitionist? If that is the case, then why hassocial media become such a significant part of many peoples lives.  This is not a discussion on the merits orotherwise of the various social media.

It is however a small voyeuristic look into the lives of the exhibitionists who use the social platforms as a way of crowdsourcing self esteem.  It is for the rest of merely a way to watch the passing of the world, and occasionally make a comment. 

Do you use social media to crowd source self esteem ?

Do the people around you crowd source their self esteem through using social media ? 

Rael Bricker is a speaker and consultant on achieving BUSINESS EXCELLENCE.  The primary driver of that is creating robust and rich workplace cultures. These encompass presentations and consulting on business excellence, culture, ethics, inspiration, simplifying systems and harnessing growth potential. 

Rael hasconducted unprecedented GLOBAL research into CULTURE by interviewing 70+companies in more than 25 countries.

If you would like more information, please contact Rael on rael@raelbricker.com or +61408600330