Jimmy Fallon’s hashtag challenge is a phenomenon that has kept its appeal and engagement throughout the years. “It’s Hashtags Time!” announces the presenter of a legendary American late-night talk show and sooner than you know it, the responses start flooding in. People are sharing their genuine responses about pretty personal things like their worst dates, silly things that happened to them, embarrassing stories and everything you can think of.
While social media has made constant exposure a common experience, you may wonder what it is about expressing yourself on there which is so appealing and almost irresistible. It seems like we don’t have a solid filter for things we share (and sometimes overshare) and tweet about on a daily basis.
“Through social media, it is certainly more possible for movements to gain traction, especially with the use of hashtags,” Dr. Audrey Tang, a chartered psychologist and author of multiple books, including "Be A Great Manager Now", "The Leader's Guide to Mindfulness," and "The Leader's Guide to Resilience” told Bored Panda via email.
Dr. Tang argues that “Unfortunately, with the limited characters to write a Twitter post, or the limited attention people give to social media in general (because of the extreme wealth of information available), this can mean posts that are ill thought through, or the so-called 'fake news,' because of their 'drama,' may get more initial attention.”
According to her, catching attention is immediate, though, and not necessarily thoughtful. “Unless we take the time to process what we are reading, it is all too easy to share something which then influences the next person who has not taken the time to consider their true views either.”
On some occasions, the mistakes we make on social media by sharing something we haven’t thought through well can make people rethink their behavior. “At a low level, it can humble people – examples of this are perhaps Victoria Beckham doing a u-turn on using the furlough process when other celebrities such as Ed Sheeran were using their own funds to support their employees,” Dr. Tang argues.
“Alternatively, have we now reached the extent of the fallout from JK Rowling’s transgender comment – with no real shift?” she added.
