Is Storytelling Dead?

It seems that I receive an abundance of likes on my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts with a link to my most recent written work, yet the reports online tell a different story. The numbers do not lie. The percentage of likes I receive on social media greatly outweigh the actual number of visits to my site. I am thrown aback as to why people actually like a social media post about a story I wrote, yet they don’t actually read the story. This astounds me.

I put my notions to a test and posted the following excerpt on social media:

Since I am a writer, the written word is very important to me. I am testing something to see if my friends actually read posts without photos. If you are still reading this, please reply with the title of your favorite blog post of mine on The Outdoor Soul or feedback about your overall thoughts about my blog. I’m pretty interested in finding out how many people are just quick image viewers or actually read the thoughts, ideas, and stories of their friends. Also, please reply with the word “cheers” at the end. Thanks.

The results have dumbfounded me. On Facebook, I received one comment, stating “I don’t read blogs. Cheers.” I received two other comments stating “I will read it if it’s not a novel,” and “I’ll admit, I’m not a huge reader and am a very visual person, cheers!” On Instagram, I was required to attach a photo, since Instagram is based around images. I received a ton of likes, yet, I received no replies or comments, which tells me no one actually read the post I wrote.

This tells me a few things. First, the majority of today’s society is completely superficial and seek out shortcuts to stay “in the crowd” and “social” by liking and sharing images and short bursts of ideas. Second, only a small amount of people are actually interested in reading or listening to what someone has to say. Third, we are in a day and age where meaningful conversation is sparse.

Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook; the tools of socializing. These vehicles were created to provide opportunities where people can connect easily with others, share ideas, thoughts, stories, and happenings. Yet, I believe they have actually done the opposite. They have actually created a vehicle that removes true connectivity with the world around us. People just see bright, shiny things and say “ooh, ahh” and “like” photos and short bursts of thought, say “I’m being social in my community”, and briskly move on to the next bright, shiny object. I believe that most people don’t really care to read full stories and articles, and have no real, meaningful thoughts of their own. “Being social” has changed from thoughtful communication and conversing to mindless sharing and liking of photos and pictures.

This brings me to a whirling nightmare that we may be on the path to creating (or should I say destroying) the world as we know it, and becoming a society more and more like the movie Idiocracy. We must gain the attention of and keep the attention of others with one bright, shiny thing after another. We must constantly dangle the carrot in front of the face of others or we become irrelevant and quickly forgotten. Now, don’t take this the wrong way. I am not at all saying we are becoming more dumb or less smart. The only thing I am taking from the movie is the veer toward individual living, less meaningful relationships, and the requirement of constant exposure to exciting and blaring images, sounds, and very short bursts of information compared to gaining a true understanding of a topic through sitting down and reading a book, for instance. That takes too much time and energy. Right? How can someone develop a meaningful relationship without in-depth conversation and discussion? This is where I am getting at when I use the word “superficial” to describe today’s society.