Abby Connolly
But that’s the thing about people who have fallen victim to the “What About Me Effect:” They can’t help but try to make things about themselves.
“They find a way to make it about them or try to seek out certain accommodations for their very nuanced, personalized situation instead of recognizing that maybe they’re just not the target audience for that thing,” says Sarah.
So, in the case of the bean soup video, instead of thinking, “Hey, I don’t like beans, so I should just move on and watch another TikTok,” those viewers had to cause a stir on that creator’s TikTok video.
Sarah then says that she doesn’t think these instances are from people who lack common sense; she believes it’s because, in the United States, there’s an “individualistic culture” that makes people think it’s okay to try and make everything about themselves and their preferences instead of realizing that not everything is for them.
“I have a gluten intolerance,” says Sarah.
“If I went onto every single video of someone baking bread and I was like, ‘Well, I can’t have gluten,’ that would be ridiculous. I could just go watch videos of people making gluten-free bread.”
At the end of her video, Sarah reminds her viewers to think twice before leaving those kinds of comments on the content people create and remember that not everything is about them.
Have you noticed the “What About Me Effect” while scrolling through your social media feeds?
@sarahthebookfairy #beansoup #beansoupcontroversy #chronicallyonline #individualism
