"Like" This Post to Boost My Confidence

We’ve all done it. The like-check. Within 2.5 seconds of posting a brilliant quip on social media, we are drawn to the gravitational pull of virtual popularity. A dismal showing by our closest people-we-haven’t-talked-to-for-20-years is like a kick to the seat. The more disembodied thumbs ups, the more we value ourselves.

Facebook and its counterparts are good for many things. Reality is not one of them. We all want to be valued. That is an essential part of our human make-up. But translating a mouse click as a measure of self worth is counteractive to true, genuine human connections.

My child is still adorable if her latest snapshot receives 2 or 200 accolades. My successes are cause for celebration no matter how instantaneously I receive external congratulations.  My family vacation was still a bucket of fun memory making, even if the photos weren’t filtered and nobody looks at them. And I still crave gratitude and appreciation beyond an icon. These realities are the good stuff of life, whether they are shared or “liked”. I am as guilty as the next person at being a “like-counter”, but my goal is to move away from needing the reassurance of the virtual world, and instead, find value in immersing myself in these moments and celebrating how they make me, and those around me, feel.