12 - Numeracy

 Numeracy

Numbers, statistics, and math has never been my favorite topic and I do everything I can to avoid classes where those are included. But even though I am not a big fan of numbers I do realize the importance of them. With numbers, we can measure populations, students attending certain colleges, and records in sports, the list is long. 

Numbers have a lot of power and are also a way to show the popularity of a certain person, especially in our digital world through social media. Nowadays you can even get paid depending on the likes that you get on certain posts. We are in a digital age where our social media channels work as a validation and self-worth measurement. We measure popularity based on the social media accounts' numbers of followers and likes and comments on posts. We control what we upload on our social media platforms but we can not control the number of people engaging with our posts and this can be dangerous for some individuals that are determined to get a certain amount of likes or comments. 

                   

Some individuals might connect the number of engagements on their social media platforms, with their own self-worth. Each like or positive comment that gets added to our posts works as a little hit of dopamine to our brain, thus creating reward pathways in the brain causing you to desire likes, comments, etc. The absence of likes and comments can leave us feeling empty, sad, anxious, or depressed because our brain isn't getting that hit of dopamine. 

                   

I used to be very obsessed with the numbers on my own social media platforms and my younger self would easily get very upset if my posts did not get enough likes or comments on them. Now it is completely different and I do not care anymore and I am able to separate my self worth from my social media presence.