The new cool is supporting your friends.

What happened to showing love to your friends and supporting their work? Be it on Instagram, TikTok, Substack, YouTube, your local neighborhood, your city, or wherever your circle is at. Is that really too much to ask from those closest to you? Sometimes people forget that supporting your friends is free. In the modern era all it takes is one button. Share it, repost it, like it, comment on it, whatever action you choose takes maybe 30 seconds max of your dear precious time. What does it actually do for someone who’s trying their best to create a better creative future for themselves? And how much does the lasting impact of it weigh against your 30 seconds? Putting it into perspective for a second, before we move on, one thumb scroll at a time…

Have personal stories and feeds become the most valuable aspect of an online personality? Enough for us to double-check whether our friends’ work deserves a moment there? Can’t believe I’m actually reading those words as I write them down on this electric machine. I’ve probably stopped five times by now in awe of where we went as a society. Too busy with our own lives to even realize that our friends are doing the most and working the hardest, but support? Sorry, can’t do that right now. The daily slot of support already went to my favorite designer or artist, one I’ll never meet or be acknowledged by, but hey, I’m a big fan, right? Right.

When we second-guess whether to support our friends, besides the fact that it can build up and grow animosity between friendships, we are simply losing a sense of appreciation for everything that surrounds us. It’s almost like losing excitement for the most novel things in life, the unfinished projects, the “trying” stage that our friends are trying to break through every day. A stage where you can be their pillar with a gesture as small as a thumb scroll. Your friends really aren’t worth a thumb scroll? Are we serious here? Call it aesthetics, call it public image, call it whatever to justify not supporting your friends. It’s okay, we are not here to judge after all. But with all that pretending for the gram, many forget there is a real life happening outside of that 16 by 9 device, and within that world, well, ask yourself what your position is in this universe, where true friendships and relationships triumph over every attribute that can be found on social media.

All we say is that you can support your friends like you support your favorite artist, sports team, or designer. It don’t cost you anything, so why not?