No. 11: FOLLOWED BY: THE NEW WHO'S WHO FOR WHO?
There's an overlooked shadow social media network that no one is talking about.
And it's creating new forms of clout and anxiety for the chronically online.
It all starts with the humble "follow" button.
We’ve all touched one.
They’re rendered in kindergarten colors, most white text on blue background.
In fact, this near-universal agreement on color palette may be the only common ground left for conformity in our Techno King commanded 16:9 chamfered rectangles.
Just before that fateful multitouch press whirlpools you into a new stream of content to en-shittify your feed, you must confront the hallowed “Followed By” feature.
The idea is pretty simple — social platforms automatically show you who else from your followers list also follows that same account. And you’re more likely to follow that account if lots of people you know also do. It’s kind of like those things that we used to call mutual friends, but much less annoying.
And yet, this simple concept sets off an array of questions — from the pointless to the profound — that all of us, or at least we — answer mostly subliminally.
Sometimes literally.
If 25+ of my friends already follow @InterGalacticDankMemes420 am I a mere sheep?
Or am I perhaps missing out on rib-tickling, life-altering cultural commentary?