Apparently social media creators knew how to feed our need for external validation! It's not difficult to recognize writers fueled up on external validation here. When some people receive an abundance of external validation, they start to become nastier, because the level of external validation they've received reinforces their elevated sense of value. I even recall reading an article from a recovered addict, where he claimed that he learned to chase and substitute likes/claps for getting high chemically. I know that external validation comes from other places in our world, but the "Like" button has created validation addiction too.
Thanks for sharing!