I'm sure there's many good reasons why the picture of a slice of pizza will generate more "likes" than a witty comment about the state of the nation.
The psychology behind this behavior might be complex, the math is not: The significance of a message is always inversely proportional to its reach.
Case in point: A 10 year old who post videos about lip gloss on YouTube has more followers than the 100 leading philosophers put together.
So, you travel to another country, find your way into a local eatery and have a look at the menu.
You could of course play it safe and simply order a plate of unsuspicious food. Some fish. A steak. Or maybe a pizza.
You could also live on the edge and go for one of the specialties. Depending on the country you are in, these specialties will most likely range somewhere between disgusting and horrendous.
Here's the deal with local specialties: They are ALWAYS EVER1 born out of some horrible calamity:
Hmm, I'm starving. Do I simply wait to die of hunger or do I eat this rotten fish that I just found in a puddle of mud, and die of food poisoning while simultaneously starving to death?
Oh no, the milk that the king ordered has turned into a pile of smelly, running goo. Do we beg for his mercy or do we sell it to him telling it's a fancy delicacy?
To cut a long story short, if someone asks you if you're interested in tasting a local specialty then get up and run for your life. (Thinking of it, you could also kindly decline which seems to be the better option with you being a guest in a foreign country and all...)
Caveat: Should you ever come to Norway do not try the rakfisk. Try the smalahove instead.
1. I do realize that this phrasing is grammatically questionable. Consider it poetic license.
From time to time, life can be challenging. Repairing a broken down washing machine or tiling the roof after an autumn storm isn't everybody's cup of tea.
Fortunately, the Internet is rife with "amazing" life hacks that help you finish the most tedious chores in next to no time.
The logic behind these hacks seems to be that the most basic tasks of daily life are easier to achieve if you engage in some overly complicated 10 minute crafts.
One quick search in YouTube shows such fascinating hacks as:
I received a special invitation in my inbox today. It was sent by my dear friends at AliExpress and explained that I should backup my important data (a very good idea), preferably with a storage devices by one of their vendors (not quite such a good idea).
Given the somewhat suspect quality of the genuine Samsung gazillobyte SD cards you can buy from the Chinese website, I very much doubt that I should move years of holiday pictures to a $26.99 KingDian SSD drive.
What I am doing, on the other hand, is to backup my important data to sync.com, a zero-knowledge cloud storage platform. Hopefully, they do not get their hardware from AliExpress...
I'm on the move. The only "computers" that are accessible are my phone and a tablet. Neither of them features a physical keyboard.
So, how do I write? Poke one letter at a time on a tiny screen? Try to swype my way through some complex thoughts? Maybe even try ~~vice definition~~ voice recognition?
The point is, when it comes to creating text nothing beats a physical keyboard.
On a related note: Some time ago, I saw the Lenovo Yoga Tab at the airport and fell in love with it's Halo keyboard.
I needed one of those!
I also need to learn to think before I buy stuff.
Long story short, while the tablet itself is super cool looking, the typing experience is mediocre at best. It's like typing on the table in front of you. Only with a lag and the need to constantly check where your fingers are.
There's quite a few things that I would consider shocking.
A camel being able to play "Flight of the Bumblebee" with its hoofs tied behind its back for example.
Or a three year old inventing a cold fusion reactor the size of a Camembert.
YouTube videos, Facebook posts, and Twitter retweets on the other hand are hardly ever shocking. Neither are revelations about new dietary discoveries.
Youtubers apply the phrase "MUST WATCH" just as liberally (and inappropriately) as Aliexpress sellers use the term "genuine".
A wolf is just a dachshund with a bad rep!
Looks can be deceiving. This delicious little chocolate for example did not taste half as good as it looked.
And while we're at it: Can we please stop adding sea salt to sweets? If chocolate was supposed to be enjoyed with salt it would probably grow on the beach!
From time to time, I buy things on Aliexpress. I know better than to expect very much. I also, as a rule of thumb, stay well clear of things that need to be connected to the power grid. (Trying to avoid a fiery death caused by an exploding power supply and all that.)
I did try buying on Wish the other day and the experience was a mixed bag to put it mildly.
Keeping in mind that my expectations were quite low to begin with, I would summarize my impression as follows:
Wish = Aliexpress - quality - legal security + ridiculous shipping costs
No doubt they will make it far in this day and age...