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I’ve never had a Facebook account. I’m a fan of Cal Newport’s work in Digital Minimalism and I’ve never participated in what would be considered an online social media upvote culture…except for here. Here I throw around upvotes like candy at a parade ‘cause I figure if you managed to roll out of bed and take the time to post on a VERY specific denim forum you deserve some acknowledgment.
Also, I think Iron Heart probably IS the dopamine game for a lot of forum members. Which reminds me, when’s the next drop?!
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@Giles this is honestly the best way to describe it, in my opinion. To me, it’s not about clout, it’s about acknowledging appreciation. At least that’s how I see it here. Other corners of the internet use upvoting much differently. This community is more about sharing common interests than it is about being a social media platform.
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This conversation makes me think about a few narcissistic family members that I have/and deal with. They are the happiest when everyone is kissing their asses and stroking their egos, even if it’s making everyone else around them uncomfortable and miserable.
As my wife likes to point out, true happiness comes from inside of yourself and it’s not what someone can give you.
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Be all that as it may, there’s a rich body of peer reviewed evidence that observation of social media likes creates a dopamine spike, and in turn that has been tied to self esteem and anxiety issues.
You can say all you want to say about it out of your cerebral cortex and you can generally believe what you’re saying, but you can’t outmaneuver the lizard brain or brain chemistry.
I am self assured and all that, but I’m not so arrogant as to think I’m immune from this dopamine spike, thus I avoid looking at Likes. I’d prefer it to be gone entirely but it’s not my forum and I understand how validation addiction drives engagement.
Think it, be it.
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Social media is something elso imo. Here we’re nerds with all the same purpose.. our denim and especially IH addiction. We share but we also care for each other. There’s room for a healthy discussion and overall this place is fun. Social media on the other hand is tricky mostly cause people believe it’s normal to break down someone else with words.. or people who are mirroring their ‘perfect life’ which can give some insecurity or worse. But when we get back to the core of this thread then we’re talking about upvotes on this forum. Then i say it’s cool! I trust us to be nerdy denimheads and that status is not something we’re after but just: dude is this size right? And sometimes i just hope that i get a comment on my booty but hey that’s just me..
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I've loved the upvote ever since we moved to this new platform. I upvote the shit out of anything and everything I like. I do it to get others stoked on their IH. There have been more than a few instances when I have reached my limit of 25 upvotes in a day. This isn't social media this is a common and active interest forum. Much different in it's own right.
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@Oaktavia +1 and well said!
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And btw, I've been doing neuroscientific research for almost 30 years. So, I've drawn a graph of what I think the dopamine spikes of an upvote vs. the purchase of a new IH item are in comparison, consider the y-axis logarithmical. My synapses are in constant dopamine overflow since I've joined this forum and I like it.
si tacuisses
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@endo I read that one out loud to @Madame-Buttonfly
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