Social networks have amplified this desire, at the same time they simplified the execution. Now you can waste time and dignity instead of money. Who can you tear down? How much time can you waste? What’s it worth to you to have more followers than the others?

It’s a lousy game, because if you lose, you lose, and if you win, you also lose.

The only way to do well is to refuse to play.

Earning trust outperforms earning envy.

— Seth Godin - The never-ending rachet of conspicuous consumption

Emphasis on the last line is my own, and it is what has me thinking the most. Where do you earn trust on the internet? Social media seems like the defacto place to do it, but the benefits seem less and less as time goes on.

With all the noise on the internet, how can you be found, or heard, so that people can start trusting you?