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The question of the purpose of social media and blogs came to mind very often during my solo trip to Malaysia and Singapore in the summer of 2026. Probably because, due to a knee injury, I had to take it easy and didn’t get to wander around as much as I usually do.

But also because I have witnessed—or observed more closely—certain phenomena.

I certainly wasn’t the first to realize this, but there’s no doubt that smartphones and the ease of finding information have made traveling much easier. Many of the stories I’ve written on this blog wouldn’t have happened if I’d had the tools I have today. I’m talking about mistakes, oversights, strange events—but also encounters.

Nowadays, people out and about are more focused on what they’re holding than on what’s around them.

I was in Georgetown and sat down on a bench in a small park downtown. There wasn’t a single bench that was completely empty, so I asked a girl if I could sit next to her. I was starting to feel sick and really needed to sit down—I wasn’t looking for anything, but maybe a conversation would have started. Now it’s impossible; she didn’t even look at me and never took her eyes off her phone.

Then she fiddled with her tripod and selfie stick. Finally, she spent at least 7 or 8 minutes making funny faces, silly expressions, and jumping around—which I watched, embarrassed, out of the corner of my eye. I felt sorry for her. But in reality, she’s totally in tune with the spirit of social media. She probably posted those videos, writing about how beautiful Georgetown is, and got who knows how many likes.

Much of the content on the internet—whether on social media or blogs—isn’t really content at all. It’s just an outlet for people’s narcissism: a way of saying , “Look how happy and beautiful I am.”

What’s the point of social media? To tell the world that you’re a winner.

Also in Georgetown, there are some splendid historic mansions that once belonged to wealthy Chinese merchants and have now been turned into museums. Spanning multiple floors, with wood-paneled interiors, both the furnishings and the decorative items are a succession of beautiful pieces.

Quite a few girls had bought traditional outfits and were posing, taking photos of each other. Obviously, there were many variations—both in the composition of the group, if any, and in the tilt of their pouting lips with that “chicken-ass” expression. After I don’t know how many hours of photo-shooting, they left to worry about posting the photos and managing the “likes” from their admirers or aunts, without even having seen what they’d photographed. And, of course, without having seen the house and everything inside it.

In certain publications, you increasingly read about what you can photograph in a certain place, not what you’ll see. It’s no longer about what to see, but what to photograph—something well-known, just to say you’ve been there. And maybe in the photo, you see more of the subject’s breasts than anything else.

Just around that time, an acquaintance of mine posted a photo of herself in a bikini at the beach on her Facebook profile, with the following (serious) caption:

Every woman needs to boost her ego with a bunch of likes every now and then.

Are we aware of how much a “like” is worth and how much effort it takes to give one?

At the end of my trip, starting from Kuala Lumpur, I went to Malacca (where the red square stands out) and Batu Caves. People go there to visit the famous and (sigh) incredibly Instagrammable Batu Caves shrine. First of all, most of the photos you see online are doctored, because in reality it’s always packed with people.

I’d read on several blogs that you had to watch out for the monkeys that hang around the staircase and attack passersby to steal their belongings. What bothered me more were the obsessive photographers, who—on those extremely steep and narrow steps—would stop abruptly, over and over again. The monkeys, of course, were just going about their business, and if you walked along, stopping every now and then, they wouldn’t even look at you. As usual, the real problem is people. Besides, with such a large crowd, the place loses a lot of its magic.

If social media is demoralizing for the reasons mentioned above, the same can be said of a great many blogs. Aside from the purely commercial ones—where everything is driven by sponsor mentions—most are just an outlet for narcissism, with people setting themselves up as life coaches simply because they’ve visited 20 countries.

Finally, it seems completely pointless to me to repeat information that can now be easily found and is up to date. Not to mention that travel tips would only be useful for people who travel the same way you do and are just like you.

The Dictatorship of the Algorithm and Dante Alighieri

When I first had the idea to write this blog, my intention was simply to share my experiences. In particular, I wanted to highlight my mistakes and oversights—or at least the most unique aspects. After two years, I can say that my idea was very naive.

• People don’t read these days; they just flip through pictures
• Everyone is a winner and beautiful
• Everything is standardized; originality doesn’t matter.

I hadn’t realized how important the algorithm was. If you don’t follow certain rules, you don’t get visibility, and so only the standard content gets a chance. The content itself doesn’t matter. But even the format must follow strict rules.

For example, if Dante Alighieri were alive today and wanted to publish the Divine Comedyon a blog, he would face significant difficulties.

For example, he couldn’t begin his work with: ” In the middle of the journey of our life….” He would have to write something like: ” The Divine Comedy is a poem I wrote when I was on the journey of our life…“; and then repeat the title many more times throughout the text.

It is therefore obvious that the purpose of social media and blogs is not to convey a narrative, much less anything out of the ordinary.

While I was in Kuala Lumpur, the Italian singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini passed away. You, my Italian readers, probably won’t know him, but he’s quite famous in my country. For personal reasons, I’m very attached to his songs, and so are many others.

Social media has been flooded with a flurry of posts featuring quotes. I won’t even comment on those who wrote nasty things because they held different political views (often without really knowing his writings).

I was deeply disgusted by the widespread phenomenon (which happens every time a celebrity dies) of quotes from their so-called fans. Often, what emerges is not grief or respect for the pain of the family and true friends, but rather yet another opportunity to put themselves in the spotlight.

That world isn’t my world.

Links

Travel Home: Trip to Malaysia and Singapore

Previous Stop : Air Conditioning Problems: Freezing Temperatures and Illness

Trips I’ve Taken, Travel Stories Organized by Continent

Countries visited in my travel stories

Anecdotes, organized by type in my travel stories

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Fabio Viroli

Ho sempre avuto tante passioni, ma da sempre più o meno latenti, le principali sono viaggiare e scrivere. Tra le altre cose ho una laurea in psicologia; ho fatto per più di 30 anni l’allenatore di basket; leggo tanti libri; sono stato molto appassionato di sport e di musica rock; e faccio improvvisazione teatrale. IL mio primo romanzo, che non parla di viaggi, si chiama LE TUE GAMBE SONO BELLE COME LE TAGLIATELLE

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