Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Snapchat: these are all social media platforms that most of us hold dear to our hearts. In these apps, we get followers and post pictures that people have the freedom to like and comment. With this idea comes the stereotype that the more likes and followers you have, the more beautiful and popular you are. This isn’t necessarily true, but isn’t also entirely false. To me and many other people, these likes and followers don’t mean much, but the real question here is: ‘what does it mean to you?’

To some people, the amount of followers and likes are just numbers on a screen. Freshman Flavio M. says, “personally I think, no, because the amount of followers doesn’t define popularity. You have to be known by real people to be popular.” Junior Chris K. quotes and paraphrases the song ‘Wanna Be Cool’ by Chance the Rapper saying, “ ‘If a cool guy uses the bathroom, he’s still using the bathroom.’ He’s basically saying that a cool person is not different from everybody else, and being cool shouldn’t cost a fortune.”

But others believe these numbers are more than just that: numbers. Sophomore Amelia N. says, “ there are celebrities who are loved based on their beauty and pictures. For example, some Youtubers are followed for their looks, but there are some people who actually care. It just really depends on the person.” Senior Sufyan T. believes “popularity is based on beauty. Someone can look nice and have tons of followers for their looks. But the person could have many followers on social media, and be a different person in real life.”

Social media allows many of us to express who we are. We post pictures of ourselves and many other things, and we follow people and vice versa. To many, these numbers mean a lot. You may get comments saying “You’re so pretty” and other compliments, but they don’t really mean anything unless you believe it yourself. The amount of likes you get are due to the fact that people enjoy the picture, so they decide to like it. The amount of followers you have are due to the fact that they like what you post and decide they want to see more of it. This process of liking, commenting, and following is something simple: It’s an interaction between two people on social media. It’s nothing more, nothing less. Social media isn’t about popularity or beauty contests, it’s about expressing ourselves and sharing a piece of our lives with others.