The Problems with Chasing Fame

I've been on social media since high school, and the one thing that I have noticed is the way that people get famous, specifically when it comes to getting something to go viral or shared. Not only have I noticed this, but I have seen the way that the videos or tweets have shifted to either darker or lighter paths.

Back in 2012, when I was relatively new to social media, viral videos and viral tweets that I saw seemed to be a lot more positive. It was a lot of cool content like funny skits, dancing videos, tweets about reality and positivity, cool pictures, and pure talent that was being displayed all around. Now, in 2019 going onto 2020, I'm reflecting on how much has changed and how the view and actions that are made to become famous have changed dramatically.

Now, the things that I listed for the year 2012 are still around, don't get me wrong. These things still obviously exist on social media, but they are not as frequent in the sense of going viral or gaining attention or appreciation.

The big picture that I'm trying to explain without visually showing you is that SOMETHING HAPPENED BETWEEN 2012 AND THE MOMENT THAT YOU ARE READING THIS TEXT. Yes, I know that the world didn't end. That's not what I mean. For some reason, IT FEELS LIKE IDEOLOGY CHANGED.

In my eyes, it seems that the shift has gone from videos being made to showcase a good time or talent that has evolved into FORCED VIDEOS, FORCED PROMOTIONS IN AN ATTEMPT TO BECOME FAMOUS, and different views on what it takes to reach everyone's phone screen and gain their interest.

Instagram has slowly turned from "This is my page, I hope you like my content" to "Hello, here is my butt." And "Hi, I exploit both myself and the people around me, follow me as I prove to be a savage for the 'Gram'". It's one of the most prominent social media sites in our day and age, and what people don't understand is that the younger generations look up to established users and established content providers. The darker these pages and posts get, the worse we are making it for the future and for our current generation.

IT DOESN'T TAKE YOU GIVING UP YOUR SOUL AND DIGNITY TO BE FAMOUS FOR YOU TO ENJOY YOUR LIFE, that's where people get their outlooks twisted. If your goal in life is to be famous in one way or another, then do it the right way. BE YOURSELF. Go show the world the real you, the genuine person that you are and grew up being. Do things with dignity and with self-respect, don't sell your soul for the money or the power or the attention because those things don't last.

Don't change who you are because someone asks you to or because you think the person you act like on social media will make you become more popular as a person.

The more you act like the kayfabe you present the world, the closer you get to becoming that kayfabe in general. You don't even know who you are anymore because you've spent so much time fooling people into believing what they see you do defines who you are. YOU LOSE YOURSELF.

Don't be fooled by what you see on social media, or who you watch on these pages. I promise you the farther you move up the list of popularity, the less likely you are to seeing people be who they truly are inside. These rappers that you randomly see become popular or these random teen stars that come out of nowhere, IT WASN'T DONE BY ACCIDENT. They know exactly what they're doing the moment before the spotlight is placed on them. They do the most outrageous things or become such a wild person because they know that people will eat it up, not because it's who they really are. Anyone can put on a fake persona for an Instagram video or for a chance at becoming famous. When that video or that chance becomes more popular than what you thought, it's too late because that's the person that everyone perceives you be.

YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO THINK ABOUT GOING BACK TO BEING YOURSELF BECAUSE IN THAT MOMENT REALIZE THAT IT'S YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE IT BIG. It's rare that someone purposely misses the chance to become somebody based on what people THINK they're like.

I'm going to tell you first-hand, you don't have to pretend to be another person to become someone special. You don't have to just show off your butt, your body, display ratchetness, fight someone, or put yourself in places you should have never been because you want to make money and get attention so bad. There are plenty of ways to do that, and it doesn't revolve around half the things you see on the internet today. If you only take away one thing from this chapter, let it be this: BEING YOURSELF WILL BE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DECISION YOU WILL EVER MAKE.