Before you see a man doing a backflip into a shallow lake, an ASMR refill video, and Nala Smith creating what is essentially the equivalent of pharmaceuticals, a white block consumes three-quarters of TikTok FYP in one click . From that point on, your every action, every thought, every concept of what is good or bad will be distorted by the favorable comments that appear before your eyes.
“I laughed so hard I cried” – you laugh. “Oh, I need that top” – you become obsessed with lavender corsets (even if you hate lavender). “That’s actually a very insensitive thing to say.” “Don’t worry, she’s just having fun.” I repeated this argument a dozen times. No, you think, there is no consensus. I think you need to weigh the pros and cons (count the number of likes for each pro and con comment).
I can guarantee that almost every member of our generation has experienced this comment obsession. Therefore, we tend to think that we are inherently unsure of our own skills, resourcefulness, and perspective, and are therefore quick to seek the advice of others. But we don’t just take advice, we abandon any earlier ruminations or opinions that may have been simmering in our minds and accept what society says (or rather, mold). What is the cause of this intergenerational uncertainty? Is it more rational to blame society or the individual?
The answer is not black and white. Rather, society provides individuals with the tools to perpetuate this intergenerational anxiety, even if they are unaware that they are doing so.
This tendency for popular comments to shape personal opinions is largely rooted in generational anxieties. They can qualify into social frameworks that allow unlimited opinions and standards, ultimately leading to groupthink.
One of the tools of destruction is a little heart, a “like” button. I’m not against love, I want to be clear. I am opposed to tools that allow individuals to communicate approval for comments. If you think about it, that’s somewhat absurd, especially since the comments themselves approve or disapprove of the content of the post. In any case, this little symbol is relevant to many applications beyond TikTok comments, such as Instagram posts, X-tweets, and Facebook announcements. In doing so, the “like” format allows users to further contribute to the comment-obsessed cycle already touched upon, lending itself to endless physical, social, or mental comparisons.
For example, many people who see an Instagram model’s “It Girl” outfit garnering 80,000 likes will almost instantly go online and purchase the exact same outfit. This process is automatically reframed when a TikTok comment with 80,000 likes (let’s say 80,001) makes us accept a certain point of view.
Some people may claim that they like other people’s comments simply because they’re interesting and accept them as their own, or that they like an Instagram model’s outfit because it’s cute. They will argue that even if a comment or post does not receive any likes, individuals can decide whether to accept it as their opinion or desired style.
But by getting a certain number of likes on a comment or post, our co-workers accept anything, whether it’s an opinion, body image, fashion sense, or anything else. It will tell you what to do. Society strips us of yet another layer of individuality and expression, offering us so many choices and quickly telling us which ones to accept.
I wish I had the individual ability to decide what’s good for me independently of the “like” button, but the reality is that’s not the case. To move forward, individuals must break out of this cycle through critical dialogue and thinking. By instantly swiping up to read comments or see the number of likes, we need to realize that we are rooted in dynamics that will never change.
It takes a concerted effort to think about what you think about the video and recognize that you’re great. Eventually, there will always be another model whose posts are getting more likes. In fact, being truly authentic is what allows you to discover original videos on TikTok, have conversations that have been completely deleted from social media, or even write articles like this one.
