The Truth About 1037 Likes | Confessions of a Thirty-Something Office Worker Drowning in Threads Buzz

Hello! I'm Hii-san.

Is going viral justice?

Hii-san, who lives quietly on SNS like
mixi2 and Threads, not just note.

Especially on Threads,
I usually get 0 or 1 like, but

when I made a certain post...

Views: 31,000!

The number of likes, believe it or not────

In other words, I received 1037 times the usual number of likes♡

Oh my goodness...

When I first saw it, I thought something was wrong.
The ♡ that usually never appears

had 200 likes before I knew it...

There was a time like that... and before I knew it,

700


800


900


999...


...


1002!

I missed the moment it hit exactly 1000,
unfortunately..

And the comments kept increasing!

I received
truly various comments from many different people.

I was so happy to receive comments that

I replied to all of them
except for the mysterious ones. Probably.

𓂃𓈒 𓂂𓏸

Comments pouring in one after another, likes continuing to grow

If I look away from my phone even for a second,
the numbers have grown before I know it

It's gone up again, a comment came in,
I have to like it back, I have to reply

────Then, all of a sudden, it stopped.

The likes. They stopped coming.

It was exactly 24 hours after I posted.
Perhaps it's just how Threads works.

The time had likely come.

Like the clock striking twelve and the magic wearing off

The dream time ended so abruptly.

Emptiness. A sense of loss. And then────

a sense of relief.

Relief? Why did I feel relieved just now?

I was shocked that such contradictory emotions
could arise at the same time,
and so naturally.

I suddenly thought back to myself just a few minutes ago.

𓂃𓈒 𓂂𓏸

I couldn't take my eyes off my smartphone,
worrying about the number of likes and the comments coming in one after another.

Every time a comment arrived,
a sense of responsibility
to 'have to reply' was born.

I read the comments aloud in my mind,
typed out the words that came to my head just as they were,
and pressed the send button like an assembly line worker.

And then, more likes and comments increased.

I found myself feeling nothing about it at all.

𓂃𓈒 𓂂𓏸

Just remembering it gives me the chills.
I realized that I had been danced around by the numbers of likes and comments.

The joy and happiness I had felt from a single like until now
were not there.

When the likes and comments stopped coming completely
and I was brought back to reality,

This is abnormal

was what I realized.

How much gratitude did I actually feel
for 1037 likes and 141 comments?

I wasn't really grateful at all, was I?
What kind of 'buzz' is that?

Deep down in my heart, I had dreamed of
going viral someday, but

in reality, being viral,
and the fact that my feelings couldn't keep up even though I wanted to be grateful,
was nothing but a burden.

I think being released from that burden
led to a sense of relief.

Going viral = something amazing
might be true.

A casual tweet I wrote
was seen by tens of thousands of people
and resonated with so many.

It is a rare occurrence, but that is precisely why
so many people dream of it.

But going viral is,
for some people,a potent drugthat can be harmful.

Especially for those whose usual content
is vastly different from their viral post.

When faced with that situation,

whether you sacrifice your peace of mind to chase more buzz,
or accept it as a fleeting moment
and continue posting as you always have,

I think the choice is up to each individual.

But I can say this much clearly.

Going viral is not the ultimate goal.

You can go on with your life without going viral.
You won't die.

Stop chasing the buzz for a moment
and ask yourself: Do I really want to go viral?

And,
please don't forget to be grateful
for every single like or reaction you have received until now.

May the joy of that first moment you felt understood
live on in your hearts forever.

That is all from Hee-san. *˙︶˙*)ﾉ" See you later!