When you think about it, social media is really just one big high school cafeteria.Interesting thread this week on LinkedIn started by Friend of Dave Jonathan Brickman. Worth checking out as context if you have a few minutes.Jonathan lamented that there seems to be an underlying thing with social media where the weight of one's comments is measured by the number of followers you have. Two people may say the exact same thing, but if one has more followers or happens to be anointed as a "thought leader," their comments tend to get more engagement from others.The idea seems silly, really, but there is truth to it. Social media platforms, while they can be useful, are most often fraught with contrived posts, observations and musings all with one purpose: to get some attention. While we like to think a particular platform hosts "conversations" where there is a meritocracy and people can each step up to an open microphone and share insights and ideas, that is not the case at all. Social media is largely about controlling a narrative, branding, and narcissism. To that end, it is like high school all over again. And our "networks" are just lunch tables in the cafeteria. Back in the day there were geeks, cool kids, burnouts, theater nerds and jocks. Today it's a Breakfast Club of influencers, thought leaders, verified account holders and people with profile pics that make it look like they are giving a TED talk or did something really important like ring a bell at a stock exchange or speak to Jim Cramer once...Everyone is desperate for recognition and acceptance from others. In high school, you were lucky if the popular boy or girl gave you a smile in class. Today, it's much easier to get instant gratification in the form of a like, a follow, a retweet, a share or a comment (and much deeper despair when you don't). But, like in high school, there definitely seems to be an unwritten (and often hard to understand) hierarchy to it all.....I mean, 14 million people follow THIS GUY....WTF.And with all of this, people expend an awful lot of energy to climb the ladder and game the system. How do I post something provocative or edgy that will get the most people to like me? And not just the people in my network. I want to go viral....I want to blow up....and I want to look good/smart/savvy while I am doing it. If I only could get Gary V to comment back to me, my heart would swoon.Ultimately, it's the people who are able to be authentic and comfortable in their own skin that tend to be the most broadly accepted, regardless of the level of success or exposure they have achieved. They only speak when they have something meaningful to say, they are always respectful of others when they do, they are connectors of good people, and they also tend to be impervious to all of the BS going on around them. I think I value those people the most...and I guess I have come to appreciate that if I have a few Friends like them in my life and my network, I think I am good....Enjoy your weekend. I hope the Wage Inequality Report from Hired is top of everyone's list this week -- it's an easy and important read. Also worth checking out the video I shared in the The Last Word if you can. Lots of little random bits of wisdom packed in its 2 minutes...and it made me want to go out of my way to grab a slice there sometime soon. XOXODave