It's time for another VSB roundtable. This time we turned our attention towards social media and the question that possibly only Sway can answer: Is it ever okay to like your own pictures on IG or Facebook? Heeeeeeeeere we go.
Social media is a narcissists playground. We post pictures of ourselves doing shit that everybody else does but somehow we're waaaay cooler than everybody else.
"Do you see the way my kale leans to the left? Bawse shit. Fuck yo kale my dude, your kale leans to the right! #takethat #kalewars #realkaleleanstotheleftfakekaleleanstotherightknockyourveggiesoutlikefightnight"
Kale really has been having the best 2 years ever, possibly only second to the sidepiece.
Anyway, while we're posting pictures of our food, our socks, shoes, vacations, suits, inspirational Bible quotes, and other stuff that makes us different than everybody else doing the same thing, I've noticed an alarming trend…
…people liking their own pictures. In the grand scheme of things this is no big deal. But it strikes me as odd since, hell, you put the picture up in the first place, so presumably you liked it. Which means that folks are merely liking their own pics to pad the stats. Which…laaaaaaaaaaaaaame. Right? On IG, folks wait til it goes from listing individual likers to "12 likes" before they throw their hat into the ring to get to the 13. FB will tell on your ass but it hasn't stopped folks.
So I bring it to you, VSBminati, is it okay to like your own picture on social media? Hell, do you like your own pics?
(I don't btw. I mean I do Iike them in the figurative sense because I'm a Unicorn scented snowflake and my pics rock, but I don't like them in the literal sense as it purtains to social media.)
-Panama
Liking your own pictures checks in at the same level of foolish as sending yourself a bouquet of flowers at work with a note from a "secret admirer."
-Maya
Yeah, I totally judge you in my mental mind if you like your own pics. Shit is as redundant as "ATM Machine." I am being the epitome of a narcissist by posting selfies and situations involving self so OF COURSE I like the pic. I rather you show me you like it. A lot. How do you want it? How do you feel?
-Cheekie
My brother likes all his own IG pics. He's usually the first one too. I can picture his train of thought too, "If I get the ball rolling with that first like then they'll all start rolling in." I hate that shit with a passion. Sometimes I'll accidentally like my own pic or Facebook comment and will quickly unlike hoping that no one noticed me being a dick.
-Tunde
No. I have never liked my own pictures on IG nor status messages on FB. I have favorited my own tweets, though. Check me.
-Huny
Oooh, I didn't think about favoriting tweets. Probably because I rarely use it as it's intended. I just use it to remember to read/check-out stuff later. My favorites list is a hot scatterbrained mess. Pretty sure I still have stuff in there from 2011 that I "meant" to read but still ain't yet. See also: My Netflix queue.
-Cheekie
I have favorited my own Tweets, on some, "Damn, that was good!" shit. Liking your selfies and such is kind of like chanting, "You is decent-faced, you is well aware of which side your good side, you is important," in the mirror while holding a megaphone so that everyone knows that you know that that they know you love yourself. When I see it, I typically think, "Bless their heart," which of course means, "You'll never be left alone with my children, ya bish."
-Alex
I don't think there is any one way to "properly" use favorites on Twitter, Cheekington. I favorite when I wanna read something later, or when it's just a good-ass tweet—something that resonated with me or made me laugh. I favorite my own when they've branched into great conversation. Or when it's just that damn good. Ain't no shame in my game on that front.
Wait, though—who has RT'd a RT of their own tweet? Narcissism Inception.
-Huny
Panama, next time you want to talk about me, just say my name, cuz. I promise you I won't get offended.
Yeah, I like my own pics, it's called betting on yourself, people. You all should try it sometime. One of the most important lessons I learned is love thyself, and that's really what I'm doing every time I like my own pictures. Panama over here talking about padding the stats, but he's being dramatic. It's just one like, my dude. One. Single. Like. If that's padding the stats, then that one square of toilet paper we get in public restrooms is all we need to wipe our self-righteous, we're-too-cool-to-like-our-own-pics asses.
Now, do I like my pic before anyone else? No, I let my pictures flourish for a minute. As Lloyd once told 50, "if they like then let them like and watch the money pile up." I usually wait until my likes get to 99, and because I know people on social media are petty, and no one wants to look thirsty by being the 100th person to like my shit, I take it upon myself to hit three-figures. What's funny is that usually has an affect similar to putting money in a CDA, in that the picture accrues a heightened interest for a brief moment in time, and next thing you know, I have 120 likes. But boss moves aside, I can't begrudge anyone who wants to get the like party going themselves. To Tunde's point about his brother, anyone who has worked at a place where they can put out a tip jar will tell you that you should always put your own dollar in the tip jar first, so as to give others incentive to do the same.
Much like life itself, how can you expect anyone to like your pics if you don't like your pics yourself?
-Jozen
I'm speechless.
-Maya
Jozen really just thinkpieced IG selfie-likes. that takes talent.
*likes*
-Cheekie
Jozen, I had no idea you liked your own pics. Somehow, I also knew you wouldn't disappoint.
How you gonna say its not padding the stats, then follow up with at 99 likes, I push it over to 100. You're Ricky Davis missing a layup to get his own rebound to get a triple double.
-Panama
I will like my own special occasion pic like the one of my great aunt looking at me on my wedding day. Otherwise, no. I catch the "last one to like my own pic 'marketing'" moves, too. When will the "branding" era end????? Will favorite own tweets and forget why. But there's always a why.
-Christina
Listen. When people RT every. blessed. mention that they get, I think Go Go Gadget: Undiagnosed Mental Disorder. Retweeting good morning tweets and smiley faces for…social proof? It's Twitter, ho! We all got "friends," dummy.
-Alex
At this point, I'm starting to think Jozen just says things to be contrary. He's got a whole list of perfectly-good shit he hates and then has the nerve to "like" his own pictures?
-Maya
That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works, Jozen.
-Shanaé
I'm not sure if Ricky Davis was in a contract year when he attempted to give himself a triple-double, but if he was, can we blame him for his efforts? There will never be an asterisk next to that triple-double just because he gave it to himself. A triple-double is a triple-double is a 100 likes on Instagram.
The branding era is not ending when people just accept it's place in modern times. I would never encourage people to become their own brand, but I do think there is something about being yourself with no apologies that is a brand unto itself. And, more often than not, people are branding you before you're even branding yourself. In other words: What if I liked my own pics simply to get round numbers? I mean, obviously that's not the reason I do it but, it could be.
Now to keep it 100, I don't like every single one of my own pics, but I just don't want us to discourage people from voting for themselves on social media. Like yourself, people.
-Jozen
Can we talk about getting in feelings over likes/nonlikes and delusions of support? I've seen Jozen tweet "the least you can do is like" a few times and agree… sometimes.
-Christina
Jozen, I think I e-love you…
-Gem
Jozen this reminds me of that Kanye line. "i don't need your pussy, i'm on my own dick." i think it fits appropriately here.
-Tunde
Christina, that "least you can do is like" line is something I got from Neal Brennan. It's something I think about a lot even when I'm the one doing the liking and not liking. We all have our reasons to like and not like something, and sometimes I find them fascinating.
And Tunde, if I were single, I might have made that Kanye line my twitter bio.
-Jozen
I'm not really against people liking their own shit either. I laugh at some people who do it (this pic shoulda never seen the light of day bro) and applaud others (you DID THAT #carryon). That said, I dont like my own pics - mostly because i hate them as soon as i hit post. selfies especially feel to me like they depreciate as soon as theyre available to be viewed by others. Why does my face now look different after i spent 5min coming up with a witty egotistical caption?? do i really look like that?
But oddly enough i do get in my feelings if certain people dont like my IG pics. in FB, everybody likes every picture - its such a charitable like-space. but on IG?? its a stingy, petty place. i know because im that person who can be very selective about the pics i like. and yes, i recognize i am my own problem… le sigh.
-Gem
I feel like if you really want to give yourself some extra self-love on Instagram, it can be expressed in the caption. Liking your own picture is so redundant. When I see a "self- like", it leads me to believe that the person is obnoxious or doesn't really understand how Instagram works. When I see it, I pass judgment, laugh, then continue to scroll …
-Mylon
I wonder if the feelings some type of way comes from a guilty conscience. How dare you put my pics on the same totem pole I put yours on.
Speaking of guilty conscience: #lurkingisahabit and every time I see a meme calling out a lurker like "saw that!" I'm like O SHIT! It's never me tho. My thumbs strong. Except that one time on Twitter for iPhone………………… FUCK YOU TWITTER FOR IPHONE!!!! And what a waste of a lurk anyway!
Bye.
-Christina
" in FB, everybody likes every picture - its such a charitable like-space. but on IG?? its a stingy, petty place."
I'll go down my timeline on FB and like every post. On IG I have to REALLY like a pic to hit that like button. Has anyone ever scrolled a person's IG feed and accidentally liked a pic that was like 14 weeks old? No one?
-Tunde
Yeah, you don't want to be the person that goes back 60 weeks on Instagram liking pics on some mega thirst crusade.
And then there are those of you who don't Like the pics of people you feel haven't shown you enough IG love, on some "if you scratch my anemic ego, I'll scratch yours" shit. Yuck.
-Alex
You know what else i hate? When people post a screencap of someone who liked 10 of their pics in a row and say "thanks for the IG love!" Fuck you and your likes.
-Tunde
OMG YES TUNDE. I'm sposed to like your list of likes??? My mind gonna implode.
And while we at it with general IG annoyance… tweegrams, golden grahams, 21 grams… whatever those grams are that are basically #fakedeep tweets. Like… you taking a picture of text? Eaux. I'mma be real, sometimes I be like MMHMM GIRL at some of them, but as a basic concept, it's weird.
-Cheekie
I've always thought those are meant to be embarrassing. Like wow you didn't have to blast them like that. It's so awkward. Are people supposed to like your screenshot of someone liking your pics? I wish that wasn't a thing.
-Shanaé
Two things:
1) We need to calm down on the hating of liking.
2) To Mylon's point, I honestly get the most joy out of writing a witty caption. I blame it on my days working as an editor at places like Vibe and XXL and even now at the NYPost, where witty headlines and captions get you a cookie. Many times I'm posting a picture just to have an excuse to write a rap caption. Two of my friends are twins, so of course I couldn't wait to post a picture of me in between them so I could caption it, "Being single, seeing double, make it triple."
So yeah, I definitely feel like you can give yourself props of your pic in a caption. Bet your ass if I found a $100 bill on the street I'd IG it and say, "0-100 real quick." The thing is, IG is so judgey, folks would assume I didn't find it and I was posting the pic to stunt on my haters. This of course would make me like the picture of myself (because the caption was great, damn it!) and only cause further judgement from those who follow me.
Moral of the rant is this: Doing what you want on IG will get you a few likes and a lot of hate, so do you and if you want to IG you and like you, do that too!
-Jozen
that is definitely dumb as hell. like, why come??
also an IG pet peeve of mine?? people who post damn near the exact same selfies every day (sometimes multiple times a day) talmbout "bored at work" "ready to go" "stuck in traffic" "in the bed bout to go to sleep". you only get an average of 2 likes per pic. why do you insist on continuing to post these pointless ass pics of you *trying* to be "whatevs #iwokeuplikedis" but clearly thinking you look #heyboo enough to show off to others - clearly no one else cares. and yet others' sensibilities continue to suffer at your insufferable-ness.
-Gem
Honestly, I admire some people's IDGAF on IG. I'm too self-conscious to post numerous selfies, and like many of you all, there's a lot of behavior on IG that grinds my gears. I'm convinced the devil is rolling around in money because he invented the tweegram and people stay using it.
But sometimes I gotta like them just for the fact that they really don't care that nothing about their sunset picture is more special than all the other sunset pics.
-Jozen
I lost a real life friend last year after trying to quietly unfollow her on IG. She busted me out with a "See Who's Unfollowed You" App screencap and everything.
(When you get engaged almost all relationships get weird as hell. So many stories with so many insufferable layers.)
If I could go back, I'd still unfollow tho. Some people are cooler online, but some people's online persona do their real selves no justice.
I want to delete everything (again) but I always think of those two people I'll miss too much.
-Christina
Also… IG hashtags. When it first came about, there was a huge abuse of them. Folks would be like, "I'm going to #Paris! I #need to #practice my #French!" Like, bish why you over there hashtagging errant ass verbs and nouns?
The only way to deal with that? OVERLY abusing hashtags for fun like I do. In fact, I respond to every annoying trend by using it ironically because then it's okay, aye bae bae.
#teamVSB #verysmartsince2008 #VSBluminati #VSBUniversity #whogoncheckmeboo #prollythecensusbureau
-Cheekie
IG is the latest frontier that has us all asking questions about our relationship with social media.
One reason I believe it's winning is because it is so easy for everyone on there to judge and be judged. Twitter was a place that thrived if you knew how to use your words within a contained space, that's why Beyonce never really prospered on there. But on IG, look at her! She's the queen of it, and that's because it is a platform for her vanity.
As someone said earlier, liking something on Facebook is nothing because it's become somewhat of a civilized place and evolved to be a very normal part of our world. I know it's not as cool as it used to be, but it has some old man cool to it that gives me comfort. With IG, I notice the lack of likes because short of leaving a comment, it's one of the few things you can do to show your approval for something. You don't even get an idea of who of your followers saw a pic. It will be a while before the social dynamics of it stop messing with our heads.
-Jozen
Jozen said Beyonce has trouble using words. The Beyhive is coming for you son.
-Tunde
Since we're on the subject, I'd like y'alls take on something.
A couple of weeks ago, I was the first to like a Beyonce pic. As in, the picture was up and there was not one like, and I had to do it. Then, I screen grabbed it, and I was going to post the screen grab on IG because I thought it was a small piece of history I made on IG life (not real life).
Then, my real life consciousness started to seep in and I decided against it. Did I make the right decision y'all? And can we at least admit that being the first to like the pictures of someone with 14+ million followers is quite a feat?
-Jozen
I do think that being the first to like a celeb pic is a feat because as quick as folks are trying to get their name to show up on those things as opposed to "10,945 likes" you have to be pretty quick on the trigger. You should have posted the shit out of that picture and then sent it to Rihanna via Twitpic and said, "It could have been you."
Don't let nobody steal your joy. Even if you like your own pictures and have somehow found a way to make that make sense. Run like the wind, Dances With Wolves. Run with the wind. #what?
-Panama
that really IS a feat. Because I've seen Bey's IG pics right after she posted them and not even SECONDS later, already multiple likes. I feel like folks pre-order her IG likes on Amazon. I bet that happens.
-Cheekie
Cheekie, if you post that "I feel like folks pre-order [Beyonce] IG likes on Amazon" in a Tweegram on IG, I will like that thing by pantomiming a piano player playing "Endless Love." That was comedy.
-Jozen
LIKING YOUR OWN PHOTOS IS LIKE HIGH-FIVING YOURSELF AFTER YOU MASTURBATE.
did anyone say that?
because it's true.
-Samantha
No better place to end than that…