A few days ago, I did an experiment. Some of my blogger friends would know what I am talking about, and some of them might even have noticed and said to themselves, "Oh, now she too has taken the wheel and headed out to the race track."
The fact is that I wanted to know how the "race" worked: and I found out that it was exactly as I had imagined it. Let's just say that a lot of back-scratching (but no back-stabbing) was involved to get my momentary "success". But it was not easy, no sir. I did not do anything illegal or wrong, but if you ask me if it was the right thing to do, I would hesitate a bit, and I would not be able to give a single word answer.
Since I am not going to explain what it all is, let me compare it with something very familiar: Facebook, where we all hang out.
Someone recently asked me if it was the "Facebook etiquette" to comment on all posts and photos and say "Wow, this is great" or ""Wow, so cute" or "Wow, you look wonderful" etc. I answered that the more you Wow someone, the more Wows you get back. Which translates to an illusion of rise in one's self-worth. (Besides, you really don't want anyone from your past to pop up and post some old foolish story on your wall and ruin your name in front of your more recent friends who think you are amazing. So the Wow is your way of saying, hey I am Wow-ing you and not ruining your name, so you better Wow me back and be decent on my timeline.)
I told you there was politics everywhere.
It is an unwritten, unspoken code. Wow me, I wow you back.
And thus, I proved - elsewhere, with respect to my blog - that the Wow-back theory works; it was not easy, it took hours of my time (did you know dishonesty and bribery are time-consuming?) and my hand began to hurt with all the mouse-clicking, but it did work pretty much. But sorry to say, it brought no happiness.
The fact is that I wanted to know how the "race" worked: and I found out that it was exactly as I had imagined it. Let's just say that a lot of back-scratching (but no back-stabbing) was involved to get my momentary "success". But it was not easy, no sir. I did not do anything illegal or wrong, but if you ask me if it was the right thing to do, I would hesitate a bit, and I would not be able to give a single word answer.
Since I am not going to explain what it all is, let me compare it with something very familiar: Facebook, where we all hang out.
Someone recently asked me if it was the "Facebook etiquette" to comment on all posts and photos and say "Wow, this is great" or ""Wow, so cute" or "Wow, you look wonderful" etc. I answered that the more you Wow someone, the more Wows you get back. Which translates to an illusion of rise in one's self-worth. (Besides, you really don't want anyone from your past to pop up and post some old foolish story on your wall and ruin your name in front of your more recent friends who think you are amazing. So the Wow is your way of saying, hey I am Wow-ing you and not ruining your name, so you better Wow me back and be decent on my timeline.)
I told you there was politics everywhere.
It is an unwritten, unspoken code. Wow me, I wow you back.
And thus, I proved - elsewhere, with respect to my blog - that the Wow-back theory works; it was not easy, it took hours of my time (did you know dishonesty and bribery are time-consuming?) and my hand began to hurt with all the mouse-clicking, but it did work pretty much. But sorry to say, it brought no happiness.
Interesting but true as well :) There is no harm in "wow-ing" the things around you if you like them. I am sure life is more beautiful than what we generally think.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. But you know what I mean. The frantic Wow-ing without actually reading/seeing what is posted?
DeleteThis post brought happiness?
ReplyDeleteI am sure Yes :-)
It sure did - writing always does. :)
Deletenice blog...keep in touch...:) plz join my blog
ReplyDeletehttp://9shonalimukherji9.blogspot.in/
you mean the "mutual" likes/tweets/sharing/commenting just for gain? even i don't feel like doing so.. at times I have been guilty of going with the flow, but I don't agree to this concept at all...
ReplyDeleteFacebook was an example, we don't "gain" anything from those I suppose. It's probably more like a courtesy.
DeleteThe real context was blog-handshaking, elsewhere.