For the most part, that's an artifact of Instagram (and similar sharing-for-likes services) more so than 'the Internet'. While there exist many services where

For the most part, that's an artifact of Instagram (and similar sharing-for-likes services) more so than 'the Internet'. While there exist many services where a content creator posts photos and gets likes (e.g. Flickr, 500px, Tumblr), Instagram is uniquely person-centric, and most content is either intended to be implicit self-promotion or can be reasonably interpreted to be such [1][2]. This amplifies the popularity of already-popular, conventionally-attractive people projecting successful lifestyles filled with travel, entertainment, and adventure, because that's what we aspire to, or inspired by, or is consistent with what we want to project to our circles. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/27/life-instagram-pedlars-no-allure-marketers-aspirational https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/27/life-i... [2] http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/07/instagram_and_self_esteem_why_the_photo_sharing_network_is_even_more_depressing.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/07/...