Talking to The National (the publisher, not the band), Elaine Wallace, senior lecturer in marketing at the National University of Ireland Galway (so many nationals!), said there's a lot of research showing that people like to receive likes and are motivated to seek them. "People engage in all sorts of practices to get them, and it keeps them coming back," Wallace explained.
But the negative psychological effect of the desire to collect likes has been freely admitted for many years by both Facebook and Instagram. In 2016, Instagram's then chief executive, Kevin Systrom, for example, told The Wall Street Journal: "We need to have a place where you feel free to post whatever you want without the nagging fear of, did someone like that or not?"
Years later, however, there's no such place in sight. People still go above and beyond for internet points, trying to impress folks they don't even know. And when I say beyond, I mean burning fellow plane passengers with a high-powered laser and giving up a child after you learn you can't include them in your videos.
To show how desperate some of us are for temporary online fame, we invite you to take a look at the recent posts we found on the subreddit r/justforsocialmedia. But if you scroll through the list and think that's it, fire up our earlier publication on this community. Sadly, there's way more.
#1 Wasting All That Food Just For A Photo
Image credits: BS-31
#2 Burning People With A High Powered Laser And Getting Yourself Banned From An Airport For Clout
Image credits: alexpugh
#3 Imagine Going To Jail For A Tiktok
Image credits: Hellamagz
#4 Couple Gives A Child Up After Learning They Can’t Include Them In Their Videos
Image credits: tosac2
#5 Imagine ... Uggh
Image credits: KyloRose231
#6 Disney Employee Posts Videos Breaking Rules At Disneyworld, Is Promptly Fired And Banned From Disneyworld
Image credits: Careless-Internet-63
#7 Some People Just Aren’t Raised Right
Image credits: Hyonokokoro
#8 Wow, So Quirky
Image credits: Rancid_Remnants
#9 A Guy Sprayed Gorilla Glue On His Hair Cause He Didnt Believe The Gorilla Glue Woman Was Telling The Truth
Image credits: oujiasshole
#10 It Just Gets Worse
Image credits: ShadowL0rd2080
#11 All I Can Think Is Ants... Ants Everywhere
Image credits: swangin82
#12 Reel Cool Dude
Image credits: comicgenius
#13 Cooking A Steak On A Plane
Image credits: soymilk666
#14 Hot Glued A Toilet Onto Your Head
Image credits: kwkierjote
#15 Just Stop
Image credits: bibbidi-bobbidi-boob
#16 Girl Destroys Her Boyfriend’s Ps5 For A Tiktok
Image credits: redditboy123451
#17 Give Your Grandson A Cake *they* Want
Image credits: redditboy123451
#18 It’s Just A Prank Bro
Image credits: OGD3C
#19 Wcgw Pretending To Have The Coronavirus
Image credits: ILeftTheKeysInTheCar
#20 Influencers Jailed In Bali For Fake Mask Video Prank, To Be Deported As 'Soon As Possible'
Image credits: t_a_6847646847646476
#21 Ruining Someone’s Night For Some Internet Points On Tiktok
Image credits: AutisticTurnip
#22 Imagine Going To Supermarkets Just To Destroy Food
Image credits: Luxvee
#23 The Lie Was Obvious, But That Didn’t Stop The Likes
Image credits: Flatulent_Rimjob
#24 Harassing People While Shopping Is Classified As A "Prank"
Image credits: combatcompanion
#25 Bruh Wtf
Image credits: SilentExpert8
#26 I Hate People
Image credits: appayipyip__
#27 Let Me Film A Tiktok Infront Of My Dying Friend
Image credits: CapitalCourse
#28 I Hate People Like This
Image credits: xanax101010
#29 Don't Warn Him Or Scare Off The Bear, Just Film
Image credits: Vensyth
#30 Squashing Supermarket Oranges Just To Get A Good Portrait
Image credits: zxcghui2
#31 Dancing In Front Of Her Deceased Mother
Image credits: ILikeTasks
#32 Why Is He Surprised?
Image credits: -sewer-rat-
#33 Peanut Pain
Image credits: ziga-rih
#34 When Daddy Didn’t Give You Enough Attention When You Were Young
Image credits: _LouSandwich_
#35 Texas Mother Poses As 13-Year-Old Daughter And Attends Her Class For Social Media Attention - Gets Arrested
Image credits: FuckYourFee-Fees
#36 Great Way To Ruin Your Life And Other People’s Lives
Image credits: JamesLeeFOG
#37 She Knew She Would Get A Reaction With Her Funeral Dress.
Image credits: bonbonellio
#38 Booty Shots At Auschwitz!!!!
Image credits: mrkuboy
#39 Poor Kid, And They Laugh After
Image credits: brycemqtt
#40 Don't Even Know What He Just Snorted
Image credits: philip2303
#41 Brain Dead For Social Media
Image credits: Evonos
#42 Making The Customer Wait
Image credits: ckb14
#43 When You Use Your Nanas Death As An Excuse To Show Off Your Tattoos.
Image credits: brbarr324325
#44 Tiktok Must Be Stopped
Image credits: reddit.com
#45 Doing Something Illegal Then Showing It Off As A "Life Hack"
Image credits: shumin00
#46 Disturbing Everybody's Shopping Experience
Image credits: HamsterCockSock
#47 Imagine The Work That The Workers Gonna Have To Go Through Cleaning This
Image credits: Akhaware
#48 Idiot Eats A Firecracker For Internet Points
Image credits: 2020clusterfuck
#49 Hurting Yourself For Some Internet Points
Image credits: Complete_Original_86
#50 Man Drinks Bottle Of Rubbing Alcohol For Facebook Live
Image credits: count-ejacula69
#51 Waste Of Nuts And Terrible Acting
Image credits: augusttrip2019
#52 Asshole Wastes Valuable Food.
Image credits: Yeets420
#53 He Pretended To Be A Girl
Image credits: MemeDudestick
#54 Just Why
Image credits: AidsInMyBrain
#55 Playing Chicken With The TV
Image credits: CartographerOfMaps
#56 Creating A Mess In A Store For Literally No Reason
Image credits: RiOT-Septic
#57 Having A Romantic Date In The Middle Of The Road
Image credits: istillwannamarryyou
#58 Tiktoker Takes Back iPhone He Gifted To Little Girl After Filming
Image credits: 007Redhorse
#59 Okay Then
Image credits: spacebuno
#60 Like, What’s Even The Point Of Doing This...?
Image credits: M4T1_PL
#61 Pain Is Fame On The Internet
Image credits: Blewmeister
#62 Tasering Your Friend For Views
Image credits: BoyGirlSmoke
#63 Just Why?
Image credits: prettylonelynstuff
#64 This Is Awful
Image credits: PLRTSPA
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