His wife may be the queen of viral posts, but Kanye West is calling for an end to the more toxic side of social media. In a few new posts, the multi-hyphenate calls on Twitter founder Jack Dorsey,Mark Zuckerberg, and others to end the pressure and stress of likes, comments, and followers on social platforms like Twitter and Instagram.
“There are people who are committing suicide due to not getting enough likes. Seeking validation in the simulation,” Ye writes. “Speaking for myself I personally want to participate in social media with the option of not having to show my followers or likes.”
There are tonsof studies that show Instagram or Twitter use is linked to increased depression and anxiety. On top of that, it’s become a way to evaluate and value people based on followers and stats through things like a verification check—much like, Kanye says, judging someone by what’s in their bank account or how big their dick is.
This follows other posts Kanye made against Twitter on Thursday. “We should be able to participate in social media without having to show how many followers or likes we have,” he wrote.
Even though likes and comments plays a huge role on these platforms, it’s not unlikely Zuck and Jack won’t heed his words. The Twitter CEO did consider changing some features just a few hours after Ye criticized the platform.
"We've been thinking deeply about the follower and like counts, and what that incentivizes," read a message to Kanye from Dorsey. "We want to change. What made sense 12 years ago doesn't make sense today. At least for us. Us making that number bold and big incentivized people to want to increase it, and feel bad if they couldn't. That's not right. We want to incentivize contribution to the global conversation and consciousness."
While he continues to speak out against the negative effects of social media, Ye is also busy finishing a new project with Chance the Rapper, titled Good Ass Job, and getting ready to release his ninth solo album Yandhi.
