Have you have ever had one of those days when, just casually browsing through your Instagram follower tracking app, you notice that someone unfollowed you? As infuriated as you are, you still manage to take the time go back to their profile and unfollow them, almost considering a confrontation?

Well, no, me neither.

Why? Because I honestly find it ridiculous how shallow social media has become.  It has turned us into a generation of attention-seekers.  So much so that we worry that one person, often out of hundreds or even thousands, made the conscious decision to stop caring about our life outside of face-to-face socializing.

I mean, let’s be honest with ourselves here: we need to figure out that most people really don’t care what we do in our free time or what our face looks like through 17 different filters.  We see and hear enough of each other in the real world; what is the real incentive behind following even more aspects of each others’ lives?

I’m willing to bet that the answer is usually not because we are genuinely interested in what another person does when they aren’t with us.  This is even furthered by the fact that our news feed(s) do not just consist of one person.  Browsing through multitudes of faces that we often wouldn’t see otherwise has just become another form of entertainment for us.  Is it really that different from watching TV?  Or browsing non-social areas of the web?  The only difference is that we know the people on the screen.

Again, let’s bring it back to the fact that you are involved with hundreds and hundreds of people online.  You really won’t notice if a couple faces aren’t there every once in a while, right? So why should you care if a couple less faces are looking at yours?  This brings us full circle to really show how narcissistic our generation has become because so many people really do care if even one less person is taking part in their life online.  We crave every like, every view, and every follow we can get, largely due to, and expressed through, social media.

But maybe I’m just being too harsh; we’re all human after all. When asked how she would feel if someone unfollowed on social media, junior Monica Martin said, “It would depend on who they were because if it’s just someone random, then it doesn’t really matter. But if it’s my friend, then it would be sort of insulting.”

We all get jealous, have easily bruised egos, and all could use a little self-esteem boost every once in a while, and what easier way is there to gain that than through “likes,” or seeing or talking to our friends via the digital world?  I definitely am not condoning those who do anything for likes, or followers for that matter, but, I mean, social media isn’t going anywhere, and the vast majority of us are a part of it, so it really doesn’t hurt to indulge every once in awhile.

In short, everything social media-wise is best in moderation.  Treat little things as little things.  Unfollows are only a big deal if you make them a big deal.  “I could care less [if someone unfollowed me],” said junior Andy Benish. “It doesn’t apply to real life circumstances and doesn’t benefit me.” But if you are already at the point where you strictly track who follows you, you’re in too deep.  Just take a deep breath, step back, and turn off whatever device is giving you a case of social media distress.