She likes me, she likes me not

 

These days drawing attention to one self has become increasingly more difficult. Further more catching the attention of a given person during scrolling through his/her feed is even harder. But that matters right? I mean popularity algorithms care about engagement, which makes sense all things considered, more audience means more ads, ergo more sells, ergo more profit, its Business 101. Don't get me wrong I am all for it, after all, money make the world go round. 

So measuring popularity and consequently value based on engagement or likes this way makes sense, right? At least for online presence and influence, correct? 

Well, take a look at another common use case. The same logic above applies in public polls and voting. The best voted party or option, is not the best one, it is just most voted. And since each vote counts the same, majority wins, more like a quantity over quality. But then how to make the voting/liking/subscribing fair?

Furthermore if you post something online, regardless of the platform, would you prefer the engagement of 10000 random people or only one highly respected individual, such as Neil deGrasse Tyson? The latter's engagement would likely hold more weight and significance. Oh, so now his vote matters more? Now we are getting somewhere.

Then again, have you ever heard someone saying: "OMG, her latest post was liked by Neil deGrasse Tyson", of course not. Instead what we often hear is: "OMG, her latest post was liked by 20 thousand people".

So should it matter to us who is engaging? Absolutely. Does it really matters in terms of revenue and watch time? Absolutely not, lour them all in, the algorithm will take care of the rest. You have served your purpose, thank you dear loyal content creator. Same goes for parties, bring the masses to vote for us, once we take power we will do what we always intended, regardless who voted.

Now you would say: "OK, so what, we can't all be Tyson or Einstein, I like to see beautiful girls/men and show my appreciation with a occasional like, is that a crime?" Absolutely not! The evolution the whole system of values, that certainly is crime to humanity. 

Then how to stop it? Well, lets stop awarding the border pushers of what is publicly acceptable and noble. Lets stop engaging the daily garbage that we are served by the algorithm. Lets start awarding and sharing the quiet achievers of our society and increase their popularity. Kardashians have enough money as they are (thanks to most of us). Some high school kid inventing a new type of electrical motor, does not have money to start production... Lets share his story!