Are G@Gers Too Insecure About Their Popularity?

[SketchForger]

If you believe this myTake is directed at you at all, please follow this set of instructions.

Sit down, relax, and realize that I have nothing personal against you. I could honestly care less if this myTake makes you happy or sad because it doesn't really affect me.

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I've been on this site for about half a year, and have observed some behaviors from the more popular G@G members that interest me.

There seems to be a certain behavior of G@Ggers that realize that they don't get a lot of online attention anywhere else, so they try their best to keep a constant circle of follower interaction to solidify their standing on this site.

So allow me to present a myTake that presents the position of G@Ggers that take using G@G seriously, and take themselves way too seriously.

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I'm SketchForger, and this is....

The 7 signs of an insecure popular G@G member.
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1.) The sex questions... That aren't actually asking anything specific...
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Some G@G member just like to put the word sex in their title even though it's not really about sex, just because a lot of people will then look at it.

They'll ask about what they should wear to a date, and then mention that they want to have sex with the person at the side.

Or ask a question that's not related to sex in the slightest but put a sex hashtag on it anyway. Because they want the attention and it will get them attention for sure.

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This is only a slight nitpick and I don't have a problem with people posting questions about sex.

Which leads into our next topic...

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2.) The Hash tag Wars
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Get it? Because I'm also stealing a title from some one who is actually relevant? Nvmd pls kill me.

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Hash tags have been around for a while and some people use them to group together certain types of questions.

Have you ever been told to not use a certain hash tag because it belongs to a certain G@G member?

A lot of those occurrences have happened and I've been mostly silent about them in terms of my opinion.

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But the bottom line is, you have to be extremely insecure to be able to care about that sort of thing.

Would I be pissed if someone started using a hash tag I "created"?

No, absolutely not.

Do you know why?

Because I would be happy that I have enough influence to inspire people to want to use Click bait in their G@G questions like me.

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The amount of times that I've seen people get "called out" for using someone's hash tag is un ironically amusing. It's like children fighting over a toy truck.

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No babies survived in this tragedy

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But the reason these types of people get angry is not because they made it "first".

It's because if you use their hash tag, it takes the attention from them, and they don't want attention taken away. It's sad and borderline pitiful how upset these people get over a site like this.

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3.) The long and pointless questions.
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I would rather take the ACT than get invited to another extremely needlessly complex question.

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Have you seen people write really long questions in which you have to provide over 30 answers to in list form?

Things that I get invited to all the time, which I will touch on later.

Questions that require you to write an essay, and it's usually questions that only pertain the the asker?

I know the most you can do Is ignore these questions but when you get invited to them, it's quite telling that they want everyone to answer them.

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4.) The "How much do you know me?" questions.
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Have you ever seen people ask questions about how many people know who they are? (I have also been guilty of this, but I never said I wasn't a hypocrite.)

I could understand doing it once, you may even get a pass if you've done it twice...

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But I have seen profiles that have 7 to 15 questions about how much their followers know them.

I've been invited to them thinking "who the fuck is this person and how did they manage to invite me?

But it's very telling how much this person actually cares about how MANY people know them, and how MUCH they know about them to have asked this question 7 or more times.

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5.) Xper points, and using status to claim you know better than people.
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The minute this sort of G@Gger becomes an influencer they will immediately post questions indirectly bragging about it.

Something along the lines of "I became an influencer, who's proud of me?" and most people will respond with "congratulations!" or "go to bed, it's 3 am and I know you're not from the UK."

These types of G@G members value status a lot on social media, especially this one because it measures your popularity and experience in points.

So naturally if they get a negative comment on their post, they will say something along the lines of "Boi you've only got 1000 questions sit down 😂"... similar to how a conceited idiot would.

They are so insecure about looking bad on this site that they will constantly use their G@G status as leverage.

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6.) The constant inviting of people to their questions.
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Look, I know for a fact that I used to do this, mainly because I didn't know people got notifications if they followed me at the time.

But there comes a time when it becomes so relentlessly annoying that I consider unfollowing/blocking them.

Please, you have over 1000 followers yet you insist on inviting all of them (somehow) to your questions, when they can all see the notification!

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7.) Blocking every person that even slightly disagrees with them.
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We've all been there, someone says the earth is flat you say it isn't ... BOOM, immediately blocked.

I don't have a lot to share on this besides the fact that you probably know the people I'm talking about.

Blocking people just because they disagree with you (in a passive way mind you) is never ok, and it's extremely pathetic that you can't handle even the slightest amount of negativity on this site, especially if it makes you look bad due to the fact you can't respond to criticism.

Wrap up.
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I am no stranger to the fact that G@G is full of people like this, and they have a lot of influence in the community, so I'm probably going to get a lot of backlash as of result from this.

But the bottom line is people notice how you behave online. It's painfully obvious that certain ways people act make them look extremely insecure, and your facade is transparent if not non-existent.

Overall I'm glad I didn't need to name any name or provide blurred screenshots for this.

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I hope you all have a grand day. :)

[Kyren]

Your MyTake is filled with great content that allows us to understand the mind of a GAGer who's inflated by popularity and would sacrifice so much to achieve attention and popular status because they lack it elsewhere. It really does make you feel like you're standing on the top of the world mentally when in reality, it's just an ego booster on a website that's not nearly as popular like Facebook, Reddit and such. I feel like out of everything you listed here; I've seen #1 and #3 the most with some of their questions being highly repetitive with little room to provide useful feedback.

I really do question why some people get so obsessed with popularity on here; that they need to be very active and keep a high profile to ensure the majority, if not everyone knows about them on this site. I get that we love the craving the attention at times but sometimes, people will get very competitive about this and to be honest, it's quite scary! Thank you very much for your well-thoughtout MyTake! Your research and analyzing skills have not gone to waste here!

[SketchForger]

Yep. It's just a little sad because I know G@G isn't going to feature this because if they do it might not go well for them...

[Kyren]

They usually prefer to feature MyTakes that have an encouraging, more positive message to them, one that can leave a lot of room for open discussion and/or suggest a subject that people normally wouldn't take about it. Even then, you still took a lot of time on this and I admire people like that!

[JimRSmith]

Once again, spot on, and splendid take. It's late here, and I've accidentally woken, and shouldn't have clicked, but got drawn in. Will give proper thoughts in the morning...

[SketchForger]

Hahaha have a good rest mate

[JimRSmith]

Coffee in hand, I can now gather my thoughts...

I've not noticed the hashtag wars, but only, I suspect, because I haven't been paying attention. But the rest, oh yes, I've seen ALL that...

There's one particular user I have in mind (well, actually perhaps two, come to think of it) who additionally seem to derive a huge amount if personal validation from being Uber Mods on this website, one of whom has even written a MyTake all about themselves. These people, despite the fact that being an Uber Mod is meant to require objectivity, are amongst the most block-happy people on the site. They've created safe spaces for their own weird viewpoints.

With the exception of the hashtags, I've seen them do ALL of the above, and I absolutely agree with your conclusion that they are extremely insecure.

[SketchForger]

Lol, I've noticed that most people who have blocked me are influencers. One of them even blocked me when I said something like "Why you post so many questions about female models?"

[JimRSmith]

I was recently awarded an Influencership (for want if a better word). Let's just say that I'm unsure of some of the company that puts me in... And nor am I remotely surprised at what you've just said! 😂

[SketchForger]

You're an influencer because you've been around awhile and you seem to know your stuff.

Most influencers are just boring 1 dimensional single women in their late 20's who can't take criticism and write myTakes about the most pander fest topics on earth.

[JimRSmith]

Harsh, but in many cases, not unfair! 😂

[SketchForger]

Of course there are exceptions, there always are.

I don't want to start fights with anyone, and I would never want to bring anyone in specific down for the way they are. That being said bringing people down is what they try to do when faced with criticism, so I don't feel bad.

[JimRSmith]

Thanks for MHO

[Wonderer89]

I’d really like to believe that the whole hashtag war thing isn’t actually true 😑 because surely no one is that sad to 1. Actually have a serious hashtag and 2. Actually care if anyone else uses it.
I know I’m living in hope though lol, great take

[SketchForger]

Do some snooping and you'll find out, I don't want to make anyone look bad by mentioning their name, so I'll have to suggest you do some digging if you're up for it.

[amarahorrorstory]

Thank god I don't care about GAG this much. I see people who have had accounts for mere months with status on here. I've been here years and I doubt anyone knows who I am. But yes, I think it's a competition for some people. Lord knows why.

[SketchForger]

I've seen you on some of my questions, but that's probably the only reason I remember you. You're usually level headed when it comes to these sort of things.

[amarahorrorstory]

I try not to sway to hard on things or build an obvious persona for myself. Keep em on their toes if I can.

[SketchForger]

I don't either, I find value in just being myself on this site.

[amarahorrorstory]

Me too, I just like to express my opinion honestly.

[BellaIsQueen]

#1 The sex questions... That aren't actually asking anything specific...

I personally think that the more attention you can grab for your questions, the better.
That's somewhat the point of asking a question on GAG, isn't it? That you want as many people to share their opinions as possible.

So, in a way if you can manage to ask provocative questions, I think that's a smart thing to do. A question asker naturally wants to maximize attention to their question to make it worthwhile.

Now, just putting the 'sex' word in the question to elicit certain reaction and more response might be overdoing it, I agree.
But if that's the entire goal of the question asker, to capture more attention, I don't see any harm in it.

According to me, it's normal to want to maximize exposure, it's not being insecure.

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#2 The hashtag wars

This one's a bit muddy area to talk about. I'm not sure whether I agree or disagree with you on this one.

Rather than being pissed, I too would be happy that I have enough influence to inspire people to want to use click bait in their G@G questions like me. (I'd be flattered)

And I know hashtags seem like such a small thing to be upset over, but maybe the person who created the original hashtags wanted to exclusively use it for their questions? Maybe they felt a certain sense of ownership to it because they creatively came up with it on their own to be used on their questions? And then to have someone use them, without asking could be mildly irritating. It could be any number of reasons why the original creator might be pissed off.

Many users like to designate all their questions with a hashtag so all of them of a certain type can be easily found. It's usually really quite personal. It makes interaction with users and exposure more easy for those type of users, so it makes sense for them to not be happy with someone else adopting out and clouding their hashtag, eliminating it's convenience. It's simply more convenient to find their questions therefore making usage and interaction more easy.

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[BellaIsQueen]

#3 The long and pointless questions

Most questions are pretty pointless when we're being very strict, but I think a long form type of question to get to know other users a little bit better is great. It can be great fun as well.

"Have you seen people write really long questions in which you have to provide over 30 answers to in list form?"
I have, and I do enjoy answer them. I take it as a fun activity to participate in. I might not always have time to write out the answers, but whenever I do have time I really like sharing an opinion on these type of questions.

"Questions that require you to write an essay, and it's usually questions that only pertain the the asker?"
I don't entirely agree. The questions are more of a "get to know more about you" type of questions. They do originate because it's about things pertaining to the asker, but it also allows the community to share if they have had similar experiences themselves.

[BellaIsQueen]

...
This is nothing inherently bad, many questions are not justified by a simple answer, rather by a well thought-out, well constructed compelling argument for why one chooses a certain thing. But when it comes to only pertaining the asker, then it's still justified. There is nothing wrong with questions that yearn for a long answer.

“But when you get invited to them, it's quite telling that they want everyone to answer them.”
Obviously this is the case with people inviting other users. Often it's because they want more opinions, because certain users can give great insights on a topic. People invite others as well when they have barely interacted before. But even then it's logical to get that person's 2 cents. If you don't interact with someone because you barely talk to that person, you'll never get closer to that person.

I just think that you don't enjoy those long questions and therefore think they are pointless.

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[BellaIsQueen]

#4 The "How much do you know me?" questions

”Have you ever seen people ask questions about how many people know who they are?”
Not really? If I have, I honestly don't remember.

“But I have seen profiles that have 7 to 15 questions about how much their followers know them.”
I suppose that can be considered a lot. But if you compare it with how many questions that have asked overall (well about 500 usually), asking 15 questions about how well their friends might know them is not that out of ordinary.

“But it's very telling how much this person actually cares about how MANY people know them, and how MUCH they know about them to have asked this question 7 or more times”
It that being insecure? If you spend so much time in a certain place, you get attached to it. And you get attached to the people as well. If you want to know your friends better and want them to know you better, it that being insecure?

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[BellaIsQueen]

#5 Xper points, and using status to claim you know better than people.

“The minute this sort of G@Gger becomes an influencer they will immediately post questions indirectly bragging about it.”
I don't really have anything to say here. If you're proud, you're proud. I was very happy with my influencer badge as well. I'm sure mostly anyone who receives an influencer or editor badge feels great/special for a while, until the novelty wears off. I don't think it's insecure to want people and your friends to know about it.

“They are so insecure about looking bad on this site that they will constantly use their G@G status as leverage”
As leverage... how? What does being an influencer or editor provide as a leverage?
Or even being a popular user, how would they use their influence?
I don't understand.

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[BellaIsQueen]

#6 The constant inviting of people to their questions.

“But there comes a time when it becomes so relentlessly annoying that I consider unfollowing/blocking them.”
I agree 100%. In fact I was receiving so many invites per day, I felt like I was drowning and spammed by them. When I'd log in, more than half my notifications would be ridiculous invites to questions I have no interest in answering. So, I turned off the invites.

“Please, you have over 1000 followers yet you insist on inviting all of them (somehow) to your questions, when they can all see the notification!”
Not necessarily everyone has all of their notifications settings set to receive ALL sorts of notifications.
If you're aware, there's this thing in privacy settings where you can uncheck, “Someone you follow asks a question or shares a myTake”
So you can't be 100% sure that all your followers receive the notification. Safe to just invite them as well (unless they have that turned off as well).

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[BellaIsQueen]

...
And most people invite everyone to their questions, I don't see a relation with being insecure.

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#7 Blocking every person that even slightly disagrees with them.

I have no argument here. This is just childish and immature.

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Sorry about spamming you with so many replies. The opinion won't fit in the character limit 😅

[tartaarsaus]

I agree

[BellaIsQueen]

@tartaarsaus thanks

[SketchForger]

The quest for popularity and competition has always been a dodgy subject for me considering getting attention is their goal.

You keep mentioning how maximizing your attention is "smart" and this is actually exactly what I'm talking about in regards to my interest in this subject. This is not a large site, yet people want to pay attention to the numbers on the side. There's nothing wrong with it, but this crave for attention can tend to make someone either arrogant or very insecure about their status.

The hash tag wars are just another example of taking this site too seriously, and I have mentioned that I have been guilty of 5/7 of these behaviors, but people still act as if the grind on this site matters.

I understand that you don't agree that it's insecure behavior, but that's also a matter of perspective as well. Being insecure can cause people to act conceited and childish.

I enjoyed reading your perspective on this and I appreciate you putting effort into a reply.

[JustMyTake]

When I was reading that meme, Jordan Peterson's voice appeared in my head.

I have a decent MHO and I've never understood that. I don't think I give great answers to questions. I think I answer questions that have such a small amount of engagement that eventually when an answer is chosen it is mine. Half the time when I answer questions I'm in a stupor and answering on autopilot. I don't pay too much attention to Xper, but I don't want point deductions either. Admittedly I can get a little caught up with the MHO thing and wanting it to stay above 50%- not enough to stop giving dumb useless answers, but still probably a bit too much.

This is why I prefer posting MyTakes.

The reason I am so active answering so many questions is largely due to boredom. I have a lot of mental disorders and I'm in between treatments. If I had more of a life I wouldn't be so active on here.

As for the hashtag wars... never understood that. Admittedly I did propose a game which involved tagging people- though the goal was not to do so. But I just saw it as shits, giggles, and a bit of fun. I asked three truths and a lie but only because I was curious how much I can fool people... speaking of which, I should probably check

But I agree with a lot of this and I do become obsessive about this stuff. Good post.

[Genie23]

Excellent Take! I have seen some well known users on here who did all those things except #2. If people really get so bothered because some people have used hashtag that they think belongs to certain member... Then I think it's hilarious and Pathetic at the same time. How lame could they be?

It is so idiotic, when you disagree witb some users on here about something and they tries to make you shut up by saying "I'm a Guru" or "I'm a Master".. I mean, even dumbest people can be a Master on here, all you have to do is just write as many one word or two word responses as you can for few days or weeks and then you get the useless "Master' or "Guru" title. Funny how they think it's really a big achievement and how they are the wisest people on here. Smh.

I've really enjoyed reading your take. Thank you!

[GetzRekt]

I create my own popularity in the sense that I enjoy what I do and find myself amusing. I don't really give two fucks who else does. That's not to say that I don't appreciate being appreciated but I will always get equal amounts of hate too and I accept that with good grace. I am a specific kind of person for a specific kind of taste.

[SketchForger]

That's the right way to go about it honestly.

[CandacePerry]

I don't care much since it online. anything can happen online and should go to the bin on the internet. then people won't have anything to worry about it. it mainly stupid people that said I will go out with you if your partner doesn't work out. I disagree with that, I said no I will not date you. people should respect people in a relationship.

[Lance1965]

There are a lot of questions that are obviously posted purely for the attention and they are usually based on lies. An example would be something like "I have had sex with 100 women in the past year, does that make me a slut?" Almost daily I see at least one post like that. I hope no one takes any of these people seriously.

[ChronicThinker]

I'm not, but I'm apparently popular for no good fucking reason lol.

[SketchForger]

You're a I hear some people find your presence intimidating. I'd be proud if I were you. XD

[ChronicThinker]

Yeah, I get that a lot lol.

[SketchForger]

I'm not personally intimidated in the slightest by you (no offense) but I find it funny that that's what your reputation is around here lol.

[QueenofCups]

It's kind of like Lord of the Flies with a lot of girls thrown in.

[SketchForger]

If I was in that book I'd probably be the pig head on the stick. He's my favorite character.

[NerdInDenial]

GAG has changed a lot throughout the years but the questions remain the same. I do agree the addiction to oneself is present on this forum.

[Anon-ymous1]

Mostly the issue is with blocking people. Happens a lot, usually from girls, for no conceivable good reason. It's pretty pathetic.

[CuriousMufuxka]

Some good nuggets of truth here! Don't care about # wars, but have seen in my almost 2 active years here that there's some oversensitive users.

[Anonymous]

Desi is being attacked lol with the survey questions.

[2opaz]

I'm not one of the cool kids

[Browneye57]

TLDR. IDGAF.

:)

[CT_CD]

I agree

[Revolver_]

Yeah

[Sampan2017]

No I don't think

[Anonymous]

Yes.