Small Talk on Social Media

I’ve always been interested (and somewhat put off) by the viral trend (mostly on short form content networks) of people doing things like cooking, getting ready, etc and spouting their views about all sorts of things that aren’t very interesting or profound.

Why do we watch this garbage?

I think the truth is: we want to simulate social connection. We often have talks with people while playing video games, getting ready to go out, cooking, etc. The conversation is mostly unrelated to whatever we’re doing (which kind of reminds me of why some men’s groups work on cars while talking about their home lives).

The people that make these sorts of videos are rarely trained or educated on the topic. It’s like having some deep conversation with your wacky aunt or uncle at a party that you forget about minutes later. Small talk.

Truth is, so much of these platforms are for that exact purpose: a simulacrum of small talk to fill some kind of social void left by, I don’t know, covid? or is this just a symptom and craving that comes with adult life?