The Difference Between an Attention Whore and a Clout Chaser on Social Media
Look at me!
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A clout chaser will align themselves with people and trends for the purpose of being popular. They seek the attention of people with a higher social standing than them to raise their own profile.
An attention whore will do whatever it takes for attention. It doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative. They don’t care about how their perceived by others, as long as people are giving them attention.
Clout chasers and attention whore behavior is nothing new. Prior to the online era attention seeking behavior was referred to as drama. Social media has given the attention hungry new tools to achieve their goals.
Attention seeking behavior isn’t always negative.
A clout chaser uses other people and social issues to advance themselves. It’s a way to get ahead. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s a behavior most people find annoying.
An attention whore may be reaching out for help. Maybe they’re lonely or lack the social skills to connect with people.
I didn’t grow up with social media. One day in my late 20’s Myspace just appeared.
I spent hours browsing strangers’ pictures and profiles. There were no comments or likes, just a counter showing how many people viewed your pictures.
At first, I only added people to my friends list I knew in real life. Other people on Myspace had thousands of friends. Nobody knew the rules because there weren’t any.
For my profile picture on Myspace, I wanted something that would get people’s attention. Something that showed I was a funny guy.
I posted the picture at night and when I looked the next morning my picture had 25,000 views and I had dozens of friend requests. The rush from seeing that number was like a drug.
I added them all as friends. I more friends on my friends list than any of my real friends did.
