{"id":17392,"date":"2026-09-20T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T10:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.strangethingstraveling.com\/the-purpose-of-social-media-and-blogs-reflections-from-kuala-lumpur\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T10:26:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T10:26:57","slug":"the-purpose-of-social-media-and-blogs-reflections-from-kuala-lumpur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.strangethingstraveling.com\/en\/the-purpose-of-social-media-and-blogs-reflections-from-kuala-lumpur\/","title":{"rendered":"The Purpose of Social Media and Blogs: notes from Malaysia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\u2019t get to wander around as much as I usually do. <\/p>\n\n

But also because I have witnessed\u2014or observed more closely\u2014certain phenomena. <\/p>\n\n

\"A
Merdeka 118 as seen during the day from Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
\"The
Merdeka 118 at Night<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

I certainly wasn\u2019t the first to realize this, but there\u2019s no doubt that smartphones and the ease of finding information have made traveling much easier. Many of the stories I\u2019ve written on this blog wouldn\u2019t have happened if I\u2019d had the tools I have today. I\u2019m talking about mistakes, oversights, strange events\u2014but also encounters.<\/p>\n\n

Nowadays, people out and about are more focused on what they’re holding than on what’s around them.<\/p>\n\n

I was in Georgetown and sat down on a bench in a small park downtown. There wasn\u2019t 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\u2014I wasn\u2019t looking for anything, but maybe a conversation would have started. Now it\u2019s impossible; she didn\u2019t even look at me and never took her eyes off her phone. <\/p>\n\n

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\u2014which I watched, embarrassed, out of the corner of my eye. I felt sorry for her. But in reality, she\u2019s 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

Much of the content<\/em> on the internet\u2014whether on social media or blogs\u2014isn’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.”<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

\"A
Interior of a Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

What’s the point of social media? To tell the world that you’re a winner.<\/h2>\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n

Quite a few girls had bought traditional outfits and were posing, taking photos of each other. Obviously, there were many variations\u2014both in the composition of the group, if any, and in the tilt of their pouting lips with that \u201cchicken-ass\u201d expression. After I don\u2019t know how many hours of photo-shooting, they left to worry about posting the photos and managing the \u201clikes\u201d from their admirers or aunts, without even having seen what they\u2019d photographed. And, of course, without having seen the house and everything inside it.<\/p>\n\n

In certain publications, you increasingly read about what you can photograph in a certain place, not what you\u2019ll see. It\u2019s no longer about what to see, but what to photograph\u2014something well-known, just to say you\u2019ve been there. And maybe in the photo, you see more of the subject\u2019s breasts than anything else.<\/p>\n\n

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:<\/p>\n\n

Every woman needs to boost her ego with a bunch of likes every now and then.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Are we aware of how much a \u201clike\u201d is worth and how much effort it takes to give one?<\/p>\n\n

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<\/em> Batu Caves<\/strong> shrine. First of all, most of the photos you see online are doctored, because in reality it\u2019s always packed with people. <\/p>\n\n

\"Three
Three of the many monkeys at Batu Caves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
\"The
The true meaning of social media is strikingly evident at Batu Caves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

I\u2019d 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\u2014on those extremely steep and narrow steps\u2014would 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n

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\u2014where everything is driven by sponsor mentions\u2014most are just an outlet for narcissism, with people setting themselves up as life coaches simply because they\u2019ve visited 20 countries.<\/p>\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n

The Dictatorship of the Algorithm and Dante Alighieri<\/h2>\n\n

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\u2014or at least the most unique aspects. After two years, I can say that my idea was very naive.<\/p>\n\n