Why is “going viral” the goal of many of those who post on social media?
What does having the “approval” of many mean so much more than the approval of one?
Is their approval coming from you saying something that they agree with, or because what you are saying is challenging them to grow and become better?
There is a passage in Seneca’s “Letters from a Stoic” that is as relevant now as it was then.
The third is a nice expression used by Epicurus in a letter to one of his colleagues. ‘I am writing this,’ he says, ‘not for the eyes of the many, but for yours alone: for each of us is audience enough for the other.’ Lay these up in your heart, my dear Lucilius, that you may scorn the pleasure that comes from the majority’s approval.
Mark Twain said something similar in his Notebook
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).
Is “going viral” really as good as those who seek it, say it is?
