By the Ocean
Cloudy 76 Degrees
4:45 a.m.
I had a 24 hour affair with TikTok. It was meaningless. It was shallow. And now it’s over.
I went into it not expecting much. I was curious to see if there was potential there for my wife’s YouTube project documenting her adventures learning to surf.
One of my kids said, “just make sure you post something that’s kind of stupid. That’s how you can succeed.” Another one said, “just copy what the algorithm is pushing and you’ll do fine.” Another offered, “make sure you use trending music on your videos, that will help.” Another one suggested, “the dumber you can make it, the better.”
With advice like that, my expectations were low. Unfortunately, they were still far too high.
Everyone wants to be an “influencer” these days. But it seems the only REAL “influencer” is the algorithm. And very few people seem to care it’s “influencing” everything they create.
You either make what it likes or you disappear.
If I was an evil mastermind who wanted to destroy the human ability to dream and create, the magic we all have to mold our own reality, I would make a machine that only handed out food to the humans who did what I told them.
Pretty soon, the habit of conforming to my external demands would completely sever any connection humans had to their internal navigation system. Their entire life would become about getting the food, which means their whole existence would be about complying with my wishes.
And that’s what that platform is about. That’s really what all of social media is about.
A tool of mass behavioral control. Calling it “social” is like putting lipstick on a pig.
“But it’s good for business!”
By definition, something that is terrible for humans cannot be “good for business.” Unless your definition of business is shallow, immature and completely selfish.
Now understand that I’m what they call “old.” At 48 years of age, I remember what a real relationship is like. I remember growing up with big, complex ideas that were multi-layered and nuanced. I remember deep work with sustained focus for hours at a time. I remember people whose primary goal was to improve themselves, not to be entertained and distracted from life.
These are my people!
One day, when humans wake up and find their entire life is empty and meaningless, when they notice their emotional condition is “managed” with pills, when they discover that everything they’ve been told to want leaves them unhappy and unfulfilled, perhaps the pendulum will swing the other way.
Until then, it makes sense to swim far upstream.
Social media is the ultimate “pick me” trap. Please watch, please look, please listen. Anyone…please pay attention to ME! (As we will be discussing here, needy is not a smart way to sell anything.)
This is not a position of power. This is not a sustainable path. It is the outward projection of the internal insecurities we’re all here to work on. That’s why it’s so “successful.” An entire industry built on the human need to be liked.
If you’re looking to build a profitable and successful business, you might have to fish in pools that aren’t filled with humans willing to waste their lives away on nothing.