Large sections of Los Angeles are studded with billboards for minor TV shows. These billboards exist nowhere else, even though there are televisions globally.
Obviously, there’s ego at work here, but it’s sort of productive.
First, there’s the ego of the producers/networks. They like showing their peers what they’re up to, and it probably makes it easier to recruit the talent that lives nearby. If you’re in the famous business, being more famous, even locally, is a boost.
And then there’s the ego of the stars. After all, if they see the billboard, it’s as if everyone sees it.
Social media is simply a smaller scale digital example of this very tendency.
And getting your billboard right–and doing work that makes it easier to get your billboard right–might be one of the single best side effects of useful social media.
But, like billboards in LA, it’s best to not take them too seriously.