So you want to know the answer to the question: “What is clout chasing?” Well, that’s a relatively easy one. It means when someone does something with the sole intention of getting likes and followers on social media in order to bolster their own personal following. For example, posting pictures of themselves at places like Starbucks or Trader Joe’s might be considered clout chasing because it shows they have money and privilege (especially if they are white).
But there are many other ways people can engage in this activity as well – such as by posting photos of themselves engaged in charitable activities for which they receive praise from others. In some cases these posts come across more genuine than those who post pictures simply showing off wealth or bragging about how much free time they have.
Clout chasing can be seen as a type of activism, but it’s not the same thing as real activism. It’s more about following and liking for likes sake; to gain followers and attention rather than being an agent for change. Clout chasers are often found on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Youtube – either trying to get people talking about their latest posts or videos by commenting on other posts from influencers they want to follow them back.
They might also use hashtags that are popular with influencers in order to show up in their feeds. Some even take it one step further by using bots (computer programs) that automatically comment on certain posts with automatic messages which could include more attention-seeking.
What is clout chasing
In short, clout is money or social status. Clout chasing means people who try to exploit something controversial solely for their own gain. More importantly, clout chasers don’t believe in what they are doing. They often display some of the following characteristics
- Narcissism
- Lying
- One-sided thinking
- Denial
- Gullibility
It’s not hard to be a normal person who doesn’t want clout. The urban dictionary describes clout chasing as a person who only hangs with specific types of people. Or starts beef because of what’s popular.
Ask yourself if the previous description describes you. So by that definition, you are a clout chaser. Now, Idk about you, but something feels wrong about that. Clearly, we may need to redefine what clout chasing means
If you are wondering what people say on Twitter, some of the tweets we found about clout are highly agreeable. You can make your own conclusions.
Violet sees you cosigning racially charged tweets and trying to play nice with some pretty nasty folks while claiming to be an “ally” to the people they’ve hurt.
— Rosie (The Nazi Hunter) Posie, BSRT, RRT, RRT-NPS (@hostilevagina) December 26, 2020
Violet calls it clout chasing.
You get the side eye. pic.twitter.com/qq6RuAfdkh
Please do not be self centered, ego bragging, clout chasing, over 2020 I seen a lot of people action not match the words they say. Please pay attention and always remember be humble and true will get you a lot further in life. Because it can all be gone in a flash.
— livinproff (@livinproff) December 26, 2020
Everybody chasing clout
— 𝕭𝖔𝖍𝖊𝖒𝖎𝖆𝖓杰𓃶 (@TheGiziFx) December 27, 2020
Clout: pic.twitter.com/crqotSbeFU
I think the central focus of feminism is about empowering women… Not clout-chasing men…
— blackbox😈 #EndSARS (@DISCRETEboi206) December 26, 2020
Does clout chasing have a silver lining?
When humans first transmitted radio signals, the art of modern clout chasing was born. We could go back to the orators of ancient Rome or the pre-roman days, but nobody needs to hear all of that. Humans have always depended on interpersonal relationships and politics.
On the other hand, clout chasing is very impersonal. It’s almost as if the ranter is rejecting the notion of placing too much value on their daily face-to-face interactions. If my previous statement is true, that has broad ramifications for such a person’s trajectory going forward.
At their very core, a change agent has a deep-seated rejection of their peers, teachers, and institutions. Where nothing anyone does is ever enough, and even winning the war of change doesn’t feel good enough. That’s why every political cycle, we see the same things.
At Face Value
Clout is a big business now. It’s all over cable news; it’s been in the sports world, and it’s pervasive in politics. More importantly, ranting is so exposed it turns into a guilty pleasure for the masses. They don’t take any of it seriously, but they keep going back for more.
In all honesty, I’m not making a case whether this is good or bad, just that it is. Clout is what feeds the masses, which inevitably and inherently want to be fed. So the problem then exists, as previously explained. There is a great responsibility in how good or bad clout chasing can shape minds.
As an illustration, another thing worth looking into is finding out how much room for error there actually is. And that’s not going to be a one size fits all situation. There are different personalities and different styles.
Fortune
What does it say about civilization when we let an obvious disconnection exist? In essence, we are saying the ranter can sell themselves out for money, and the people being ranted at are willing to eat it up. Then absolve themselves of any role in the charade.
Besides all of that, we use the disconnect to pick and choose who gets fortune and who gets canceled with no rhyme or reason as to why we do so. Therefore we expect absolute consistency whenever we feel like it but literally never offer the same in return.
The point of this essay is not to reject the game, only to play it better. To take a shot at the whole idea of shock type news while also shocking in our own ways. This is a light effort for me. Nevertheless, I feel that sense of responsibility to do better and sell myself out on my own terms.
A deeper look
Perhaps ranting as a phenomenon is a human’s way of finding a natural balance between chaos and order. In that sense, it’s an unsolvable problem on the level of many other paradoxes. So unless a major paradigm shift guides us, we can accurately predict the things mentioned here won’t change.
For one thing, we know that perceptions do change, sometimes very easily. But the universal patterns that exist in nature don’t change. And mass-psychology overrules any other methodology. I encourage anyone to run some numbers and hand me your predictions.
To illustrate, I would gladly explain how I could have figured out everything you did with psychology alone. Also, I’m not saying it’s easy or anything. I’m merely saying it’s better applied to any of the topics talked about.
Conclusion to What is clout chasing
Clout chasing is when you spend hours on social media looking for people who are influential to follow and connect with. You do this because you want them to see your content and hopefully share it or engage with it. The ultimate goal of clout chasing is to get a shout out from the influencer, but really they’re just taking up time that could be spent creating more engaging content. It’s also important not to use an influencer’s post as an opportunity to market your own product or service in the comments section underneath their post without permission – this is called “comment spamming.”
As a matter of fact, whether you don’t enjoy good clout chasing or can’t look away from a train wreck, the effect ends up being the same. So both reactions are equally as wasteful. A more logical approach is to be aware of the train, give it the amount of attention it deserves, and nothing more.
By way of example, this argument is perfectly in line with the philosophy of this site. Where we are only asking for a little bit of attention, it’s all a rant or a show; it’s all about doing it better. Moreover, clarity is an essential part that gets overlooked. It’s what separates good from great.
