I Still Check The Likes...

9 Sept 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:06

In this candid monologue, Steve D. Valentine explores his ongoing struggle to separate his self‑esteem from social‑media metrics such as likes, shares, and comments. He describes how the pursuit of validation has paralyzed him, leading to self‑judgment and constant comparison with others. Valentine expresses a desire to speak freely—even if it irritates some listeners—while resisting the influence of platform algorithms on his opinions. He acknowledges that his uncertainty about his own identity has held him back, and he commits to working toward authentic expression that attracts the right audience, regardless of negative feedback.

Chapters

And hopefully some of my comments detract people and they go away. There is always going to be a journey to detach these things from, in my world, from the emotional outcome of the liking, the shares, the comments, the validation. And that is something that I'm still working on. I want to speak freely in a way that it impacts people and knowing that it's going to irritate others and being okay with that. And it's something that's held me back for a long time, but I think it's held me back for a long time because I didn't know who the fuck I was. And when you're When you're bouncing back and forth, and we all see this on yourself, it's a paralyzation that I get to work on from my past of judgment, of comparing where other people are and knowing exactly who I am and why I'm doing what I'm doing. And not allowing the algorithms and the other things to impact the things that I want to say and the opinions that I have and the places that I want to attract people to who I am. And hopefully some of my comments detract people and they go away. Yeah. Right? It's negative. Yep, yep.