In the ‘old’ days, it was harder for someone to be an Attention Whore. It mainly involved the person having to call or talk to someone in person for them to annoy someone to death with their insecurities and needy-ness. Technology advanced to bring us cell phones, where one can text another endlessly with their needy-ness. With the internet, technology brought us internet forums and blogs which provided another avenue for Attention Whores to bombard people with their craziness.

As if these weren’t bad enough, social media entered the picture and created a whole new breed of Attention Whores. Thankfully, with Twitter, Facebook, etc., people have to VOLUNTARILY  ‘Follow’ or add someone as a ‘Friend’ to expose themselves to this behavior, but why WOULD anyone voluntarily expose themselves to that kind of manipulation? It doesn’t make sense to me.

Most people use social media to vent every once in a while, pass on info, or as a way to stay in contact with their friends on a daily basis. Social media serves as a good avenue to vent when you can’t directly vent to a person. It provides an immediate way for us to let go of a moment of frustration, sadness, or even laughter at something going on in the moment.

Attention Whores take things to a whole new level via social media. There’s a huge difference between venting ‘moments’ and using social media 24/7 to try to manipulate people into feeling sorry for you. I don’t believe half of what I’ve heard and read from Attention Whores. I laughed when someone told me once that someone had tweeted that they were laying on the bathroom floor with a migraine and that they continued to tweet from the bathroom floor for 2 hours. Really?  Who DOES that? It’s not really a funny lie…it’s a pathetic lie. If you have a migraine so bad that you’re laying on the bathroom floor, there is no way you would be able to tweet about it. Give me a break. The LAST thing I’m thinking about when I’m sick is Facebook, Twitter, etc. This was clearly an attempt to get someone to feel sorry for the person. If you’re dumb enough to fall for that one, you’re as big of a loser as they are.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had moments where I’ve been so frustrated or upset that I’ve tweeted about it. I’ve also gone back and deleted it, too, because at the moment I initiated venting, it was the only way I could get what I was feeling out. My motivation wasn’t to try to get attention, though. The last thing I ever want is fake attention aka pity. That’s just not a good…or real way to live.

Seriously, though, why do people voluntarily listen to someone talk about themselves in a way that is clearly meant to make you feel sorry for them? If that is a person’s only way to get any attention that’s pretty pathetic. Feeding into it and giving them what they want only hurts them because it tells them it’s OK to continue that behavior.

In any case, social media sites have made it way too easy now for people to continue their Attention Whoring. The people who enable aren’t much better. It’s like feeding a monster and Attention Whores are one monster that needs to go away.