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The 'What About Me?' Phenomenon: How Social Media Amplifies Personal Interpretations Online
🇸🇮 Slovenia /Culture & Society

The 'What About Me?' Phenomenon: How Social Media Amplifies Personal Interpretations Online

From Delo · () Slovenian

Translated from Slovenian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Context piece
  • A phenomenon dubbed 'what about me-ism' describes the tendency on social media to interpret every post through a personal lens, leading to comments like 'What about me?' if the content isn't directly relevant.
  • This behavior is amplified by social media algorithms that personalize content feeds, creating an expectation that online information should always be tailored to the individual.
  • Psychologists suggest that while this egocentric bias is natural, social media's reinforcement of it can lead users to feel excluded or offended by content not meant for them, a trend potentially exacerbated by pandemic-related isolation.

On social media, a peculiar trend has emerged where individuals interpret every post through a personal lens, often leading to comments like "What about me?" if the content isn't directly relevant. For example, a young American woman shared a bean soup recipe for women with iron deficiency during menstruation. Instead of recipe questions, the comments flooded with "What if I don't like beans?" or "What about diabetics?" This viral phenomenon wasn't about the recipe itself but the reactions it provoked.

What if I don't like beans?

— Social media userCommenting on a recipe for bean soup.

Psychologists have long discussed egocentric bias, the natural human tendency to process information through personal experiences. The issue arises when individuals fail to recognize that content might not be intended for them. On platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, algorithms create a personalized internet, feeding users content aligned with their interests. This fosters an expectation that nearly everything encountered online should be relevant, causing users to perceive non-tailored content as flawed, exclusive, or even offensive.

What about diabetics?

— Social media userCommenting on a recipe for bean soup.

Professor Jessica Maddox from the University of Georgia notes that while this mindset predates social media, the algorithms have significantly amplified it. The personalized nature of online spaces leads users to believe the internet is "theirs." This can reduce exposure to diverse viewpoints and strengthen the feeling of being the center of the information universe. The internet term "what about me-ism" encapsulates this behavior, where the focus shifts from whether a post is useful to its target audience to why it isn't useful for everyone.

The algorithms create a sense that the internet is 'ours'.

— Jessica Maddox, University of Georgia professorExplaining how social media algorithms amplify egocentric bias.

Maddox suggests the COVID-19 pandemic may have further intensified this phenomenon. Prolonged isolation, increased social media use, and heightened discussions about inequality and discrimination have made some individuals more sensitive to feelings of exclusion. This can manifest as a strong need to ensure they are adequately included in every conversation. While such reactions aren't always unjustified, the problem arises when this need for inclusion extends to everyday content where universality was never the author's intent, leading to consequences for online discourse.

Long-term isolation, more time on social media, and discussions about inequality, discrimination, and inclusion have increased sensitivity to feelings of exclusion.

— Jessica Maddox, University of Georgia professorDiscussing the potential impact of the pandemic on 'what about me-ism'.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Delo in Slovenian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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