I want you to like me
You choose the best photo: casual but beautiful. That selfie where you look great, but not too fake ... It's the perfect moment to share. Rush hour, all your friends scrolling endlessly after another exhausting day. All that's left to do is wait for the first like . From the close ones who are always there. From the guy you like. From that pair of cool Insta-friends whose opinion you value...
Your phone starts buzzing. Like, like, like . Your head starts buzzing. The areas of your brain involved in social cognition, reward , and motivation are activated. Scientists discovered this by studying dozens of teenagers while they were using Instagram (now we know: they are the most vulnerable). The most surprising thing was their reaction to other people's popular images: their brains also activated.
There's an explanation for everything, so don't feel bad while you wait for that like . Millions of years of evolution have led you here. "The 'like' button was built on the foundations of evolutionary biology ," the authors of the book Like: The Button That Changed the World explained in the Wall Street Journal a month ago.
The strengths that allowed early hominids to survive— by imitating successes and avoiding mistakes —guide our likes today. "Humans tend to gravitate toward what is familiar; we trust that its experiences will be relevant." And let's not forget the importance of leaders: "The way we organize ourselves socially is based on who is perceived as the person from whom we can learn the most ."
There's some of this in the most liked photos: we look for the leader, but also for similarities. We have Messi and Cristiano doing things, celebrating things, but there are also babies (lots of babies), love, and photos of the most mundane. There's baby Bieber 's little foot, Zendaya congratulating her boyfriend, Selena Gomez with a cocktail, Billie Eilish with a new hair color...
In the end, they are like the images we all upload.
In the 1960s, Francisco Umbral carefully constructed his character. We see it in Anatomy of a Dandy (Filmin) . His coat. His astrakhan collar. His scarf. "Create an image because if not, they'll make one for you." Today we all invent our own characters . The foodie , the reveler, the fashion addict, the CrossFit fanatic... We only show the face that fits the story. Just as you shouldn't feel bad about enjoying the occasional like , you should keep in mind that what you see is a masquerade . In real life, we don't go around telling strangers about our troubles .
elmundo
