The Bullshit Behind Modern CTAs
How fake "community building" and "support each other" slogans are just another way to farm you.
The Illusion of "Community"
Open any social network today and you will be bombarded with calls to action that pretend to be about you but are only about the person posting.
"Let’s grow together."
"Tag someone who needs to hear this."
"Subscribe, like, comment."
These phrases sound collaborative. They sound positive. They sound like they are building something.
They are not.
They are simply tactics to extract attention without providing real value first.
What looks like an invitation is just another way to manipulate you into feeding someone else's algorithm metrics.
The promise is community.
The reality is farming.
The Real Purpose Behind Most CTAs
When you see a call to action online, ask yourself: who benefits first?
If the answer is "the person posting," you already know what game you are playing.
Here’s what these CTAs really mean:
"Subscribe, like, and comment" means "please feed the algorithm for me."
"Let’s grow together" means "help me grow, not you."
"Tag someone who needs to hear this" means "make my post go viral for free."
"Save this post for later" means "inflate my save count to trick the algorithm."
"Turn on notifications" means "stay addicted to my content cycle."
"Drop a 'yes' if you agree" means "I need fake engagement because nobody would naturally react."
"DM me the word 'success'" means "let me pitch you a product the second you bite."
"Comment 'me' and I'll send you info" means "let me flood your inbox with garbage."
"Let's build a community of winners" means "build my audience while I pretend you are part of something."
None of these CTAs are about giving you value upfront.
They are all about asking for something before offering anything real.
Why This Matters
At first glance, it might not seem important.
"Who cares if someone asks for likes or comments?" you might think.
But underneath it, the behaviour reflects something deeper about how trust is handled in the digital world.
When someone needs to game you into boosting their posts, it means their work is not strong enough to stand alone.
If the idea, the insight, or the product was good, it would naturally generate reaction. It would not need manufactured interaction.
You don’t ask for applause when you’re really good, because that reaction comes naturally.
When you reward manipulation disguised as community, you are helping to spread the worst possible incentives online.
You are teaching people that appearance matters more than substance.
And over time, that degrades everything.
The Rise of Engagement Farming
We live in a world now where most so-called creators are not creating anything.
They are farming.
Farming attention, farming reactions, farming vanity numbers.
The real product is not their newsletter, course, or service.
The real product is you.
Your likes.
Your shares.
Your comments.
Your time.
They wrap it all under a pretty label like "supporting small creators" or "growing together," but the truth is far simpler and far colder.
You are not their peer.
You are their resource.
Real Builders vs. Fake Builders
There is a clear line between people who build real things and people who build audiences for the sake of audiences.
Real builders:
Share insights without begging for engagement
Deliver value upfront without asking for anything first
Trust that quality will find its audience naturally
Focus on the product, the service, the insight, not the performance around it
Fake builders:
Focus on vanity metrics first
Obsess over followers, views, saves
Chase engagement through manipulation
Inflate importance by pushing fake community slogans
Understanding this difference is not optional anymore.
It is essential if you do not want to get lost in the flood of useless noise that pretends to be value.
The Cost of Playing the Wrong Game
If you reward fake engagement tactics, you are not just wasting your time.
You are degrading your own standards without realising it.
You start tolerating low-quality thinking because it comes wrapped in the right slogans.
You start trusting signals like "likes" or "followers" instead of judging by substance.
You start building your worldview on performance instead of reality.
The cost of playing the wrong game is losing your ability to tell real from fake.
Once that happens, someone else will always control your attention.
And from there, your decisions.
Choose Carefully
Nobody is coming to save you.
Nobody is out there trying to help you grow for free.
Nobody is building communities out of pure kindness.
Every move online is a transaction.
The only real choice is whether you want to play the game consciously or let yourself be played.
You can be:
A mind that thinks independently
Or fuel for someone else's numbers
There is no middle ground anymore.
Real Life is Still Out There
There is something deeply absurd about how people today shape their lives based on what happens inside a social network.
Most would deny it if you asked them directly.
They would say they are in control.
They would tell you they are different.
But if you check the time they spend glued to a screen, the truth becomes obvious.
Instagram.
LinkedIn.
Twitter.
Substack.
Bluesky.
Pick your platform. It is all the same cycle.
Hours of life drained staring at filtered versions of other people’s lives.
Hours lost chasing imaginary status points, fighting over imaginary internet relevance.
Meanwhile, the real world waits outside the screen.
Real memories.
Real moments.
Real people who will not be here forever.
Building a life worth living happens away from the screen.
It happens in conversations, in experiences, in work that matters, in time spent with those who matter.
That is why my approach to social media is simple.
I post, and I leave.
I do not interact.
I do not argue in comment sections.
I do not care about the latest "growth hacks" or algorithm tricks.
I have better things to do.
I post because I want to share what I have learned.
I post because it is one channel to build a business.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
I am not pretending it is charity.
I am not pretending I am "building a community."
I am not lying to make myself look better.
Lying is too much work. I chose better.
How to start using your brain
Next time you see a polished CTA telling you to "drop a comment," "save this post," or "join a movement," take a step back.
Ask yourself:
What am I really getting here?
Is there real value before they ask for something?
If not, you already know the answer.
Build your own standards.
Think for yourself.
Sharp minds do not need followers.
They build things that last.
Welcome to the real world.
