Discovering the art of being popular

Icould never master the craft of mustering multiple likes and comments on social media sites and secretly envied those who would elicit hundreds of clicks at the drop of a post. The few likes I managed to garner were from family members who, I was pretty sure, did so out of sheer sympathy.

Not the one to give up, I did some research and went on a spree to add as many friends as possible and ensured I ‘liked’ any post that showed up on the screen. ‘Like begets like’ and ‘more the friends more the likes’ was the logic behind this strategy. This phase lasted for four months during which I tripled my friend list and scored innumerable clicks on the like button.

I resisted from posting anything during this period, waiting for the right moment that came in the form of the Delhi half marathon which I completed with my wife, followed by a visit to Bangalore to look up my daughter. The photos of both events along with a crisp write-up were floated on the social site.

I was confident of seeing a surge in my popularity but the tsunami of likes and comments on my two posts went beyond my wildest dream. The two photos elicited a whopping 100 likes overnight and touched 200 by Day 3. Basking in my new-found popularity, I encountered an old friend from the National Defence Academy (NDA) days. The discussion predictably veered to the training at the NDA and homed in on our civilian instructors who found it difficult to come to terms with the academy culture.

A popular instructor shared his dilemma through a prizewinning entry in the Reader’s Digest in the 1970s which read something like: “Whenever I go around, few cadets salute me but when I am with my wife, the salutes multiply and the other day when I was with my teenaged daughter, I found the whole academy, including the first termers who are not yet authorised to salute, saluting me.”

We laughed out loud, recollecting anecdotes of that era. The laughter soon gave way to that strange and creepy feeling when you realise that the joke on which you are laughing could in fact be on you. Introspecting I recollected, rather uncomfortably, that of the two posts, one had my wife with me and the other was with my daughter.

But my marathon efforts of befriending and liking posts based on the principles of psychology of human behaviour must have had some effect. I was ready for the litmus test and boldly gambled posting two complimentary photos of the two events without my wife and daughter.

A three-day wait proved that I indeed have become popular as the posts instead of the usual six to seven likes had 14 and 18 likes. I took the setback in my stride and looked at the positive aspect of finally having discovered the art of being popular.

I DID SOME RESEARCH AND WENT ON A SPREE TO ADD AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE AND ENSURED I ‘LIKED’ ANY POST THAT SHOWED UP ON THE SCREEN. ‘LIKE BEGETS LIKE’ AND ‘MORE THE FRIENDS MORE THE LIKES’ WAS THE LOGIC