Sharing your worst moments has become a valuable source of likes – but is performative vulnerability causing more harm than good? (via rollingstoneaus)
As we share our most intimate moments with strangers, we also put our own need for genuine connection at arms distance. Often the responses we receive are empty and unhelpful; a heart emoji, a ‘hang in there’ devoid of the cute kitty poster. This shallow interaction can actually act as an amplifier of the poster’s feelings of isolation, rather than the sense of connection the person is desperately seeking.
In the end, whether that regret descends upon you like a bad hangover comes down to the reasons behind your choice to share. And when influencers are involved, the question of intention is key.One of the most concerning aspects of this latest trend is the disturbing reality that some influencers are using performative vulnerability purely to drive engagement. And where there are likes, there are dollars.
“I think vulnerability has such power to it – in the sense of that connection,” says Watson. “I think the reason we are drawn to vulnerability is because we’re not vulnerable. That’s not a part of our culture. So I think that’s why it fascinates us – because we know on some level that it’s more real than what we portray [ourselves].”
If influencers are using ‘performative vulnerability’ in order to game the engagement on social media, how does this diminish the very real challenges of mental health? Influencers, and the brands tapping them for campaigns, have to be particularly careful not to allow conversations around a genuine health issue deteriorate into a fleeting trend.
It’s hard to deny that there are positives to the increase in vulnerability we are seeing on our feeds. After all, influencers encourage us to do more than just buy things – they can also influence our behaviour. For every person that reacts to a deeply personal post with a cynical eye roll, there’s another who connects with the journey, and feels part of something bigger. In some ways, the intention doesn’t really matter.
We need to stop linking the idea of authenticity to these kinds of performative ‘realness’ posts, because there’s nothing less authentic than doing something for the likes. Even if we don’t want to publicly admit the brief flutter we get from a flurry of notifications rolling in.
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