Memories are an integral part of a human life. The bundle of memories in our mind both good and bad remind us of the times we have been through, times we have cherished and times that have helped us grow into who we are today and while to many memories are a more personal and private factor, in this age of technology nothing has remained private now.
In the past few years, features have developed which give pop up notifications on social media on the same date you shared something a year or a few years ago on a certain platform. This reminds us not only of the day we posted a certain post or picture but also the memories that were attached to those times as well and while many think this is creepy and invasive a lot of people find it nice because they believe it reminds them of not only the day a certain event happened but all the memories and people that were linked to it and they cherish the memory again.
While all may be good with this feature, certain people believe that the amount of likes a certain post or picture gets can affect the emotions a person has with the said events and memories and if not the likes the anticipation of social media judgment about the past can also affect what memories people share and how. In order to test the fact that whether the likes factor affected people’s emotion about a memory a survey was conducted in which detailed interviews and focus groups were held for 60 social media users and they were asked if they believe the number of likes made them feel differently about a particular memory.
Some people believe that the social media has become more of a validation factor and when people share their happy cherished moments the judgment others hold onto their memory is what makes them think if a memory is even worth keeping or not and that is so wrong because your memory is yours to cherish and no one’s judgment on it should matter.
While on the other hand people also believed that not getting enough likes on a shared memory can erode the personal value and at times the low like number can become the part of the same memory and when you will remember it again in a few years that less like factor will also pop up in your brain. This is also wrong in so many ways because no one’s ability to tap a like on your post should define if it is truly worth re living or not.
The participants in the interview were aware about the “Like Economy” and said that in such advanced technology times it is hard to break the cycle and though they realize that their memories are personal to them and should not be affected by social medias, it still is.
However, such likes did not define all the memories. From the survey it was gathered the likes only affected memories that the person held close to their heart or had cherished the time when it happened while if it was a small memory, the likes did not mean anything.
Because of this “Like economy” a lot of people stopped sharing their happy moments and memories on the social media because they believe that just in case the number of likes the post receive can alter their relationship to the memory and people started keeping their stuff to themselves.
However, this like economy cycle is hard to break but not impossible and if people stopped giving any thoughts to the likes a memory receives and post it for their own self believing that when it will come back as a notification in a few years down the lane they will cherish it again and relive the same happy time. This is hard to do but nothing is impossible.
Sources: 1 / 2.
Read next: Do You Trust Social Media with Your Data? This Study Shows That Two Thirds of Users Do Not
In the past few years, features have developed which give pop up notifications on social media on the same date you shared something a year or a few years ago on a certain platform. This reminds us not only of the day we posted a certain post or picture but also the memories that were attached to those times as well and while many think this is creepy and invasive a lot of people find it nice because they believe it reminds them of not only the day a certain event happened but all the memories and people that were linked to it and they cherish the memory again.
While all may be good with this feature, certain people believe that the amount of likes a certain post or picture gets can affect the emotions a person has with the said events and memories and if not the likes the anticipation of social media judgment about the past can also affect what memories people share and how. In order to test the fact that whether the likes factor affected people’s emotion about a memory a survey was conducted in which detailed interviews and focus groups were held for 60 social media users and they were asked if they believe the number of likes made them feel differently about a particular memory.
Some people believe that the social media has become more of a validation factor and when people share their happy cherished moments the judgment others hold onto their memory is what makes them think if a memory is even worth keeping or not and that is so wrong because your memory is yours to cherish and no one’s judgment on it should matter.
While on the other hand people also believed that not getting enough likes on a shared memory can erode the personal value and at times the low like number can become the part of the same memory and when you will remember it again in a few years that less like factor will also pop up in your brain. This is also wrong in so many ways because no one’s ability to tap a like on your post should define if it is truly worth re living or not.
The participants in the interview were aware about the “Like Economy” and said that in such advanced technology times it is hard to break the cycle and though they realize that their memories are personal to them and should not be affected by social medias, it still is.
However, such likes did not define all the memories. From the survey it was gathered the likes only affected memories that the person held close to their heart or had cherished the time when it happened while if it was a small memory, the likes did not mean anything.
Because of this “Like economy” a lot of people stopped sharing their happy moments and memories on the social media because they believe that just in case the number of likes the post receive can alter their relationship to the memory and people started keeping their stuff to themselves.
However, this like economy cycle is hard to break but not impossible and if people stopped giving any thoughts to the likes a memory receives and post it for their own self believing that when it will come back as a notification in a few years down the lane they will cherish it again and relive the same happy time. This is hard to do but nothing is impossible.
Sources: 1 / 2.
Read next: Do You Trust Social Media with Your Data? This Study Shows That Two Thirds of Users Do Not
