Hey there, millennials. Feeling ~stressed~ about your social media accounts? Overwhelmed by your Instagram? Desperate for the fleeting feeling of acceptance that comes with a fav?
Antonioguillem / Getty Images
Well, have no fear! Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, is here to soothe your furrowed brow.
Atta Kenare / AFP / Getty Images
You laugh! But just listen to this nugget of wisdom from the septuagenarian: "The number of 'likes' on social media doesn't determine the true value of a piece of work."
Advertisement
Khamenei dropped this pearl of knowledge into our laps while talking about poetry and how what really matters is how other poets and critics see the work, not how popular it is.
He also speaks from experience, sort of. Nobody knows who runs the @khameni_ir account on Twitter but it's pretty good at the game, using slick graphics to viral effect.
Advertisement
It'll be especially easy for Khamenei's subjects to follow his advice, when you consider the fact that both Facebook and Twitter are blocked in the country.
Raheb Homavandi / Reuters
(A lot of Iranians have filter breakers and VPNs installed to access these these sites, but it's also a really annoying set of steps to have to go through when you just want to post a picture of your dinner.)
And with a recent crackdown on women using Instagram — which Iran's government thinks may or may not be a Kim Kardashian–supported plot against it — Khamenei's urging to free yourself from the tyranny of likes is all the more timely.
We, and our partners, use technologies to process personal information, including IP addresses, pseudonymous identifiers associated with cookies, and in some cases mobile ad IDs. This information is processed to personalize content based on your interests, run and optimize marketing campaigns, measure the performance of ads and content, and derive insights about the audiences who engage with ads and content. This data is an integral part of how we operate our site, make revenue to support our staff, and generate relevant content for our audience. You can learn more about our data collection and use practices in our Privacy Policy.
If you wish to request that your personal information is not shared with third parties, please click on the below opt out button. Please note that after your opt out request is processed, we may still collect your information in order to operate our site.
We value your privacy
We and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at anytime by returning to this site.
BuzzFeed
Information storage and access
The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.
Personalisation
The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.
Ad selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
Content selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
Third-party vendors
Information storage and access
The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
The Rubicon Project, Limited
Index Exchange, Inc.
comScore, Inc.
DoubleVerify Inc.
LiveRamp, Inc.
Taboola Europe Limited
PubMatic, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
EMX Digital LLC
Nielsen Marketing Cloud
Google (DFP / AdX)
Personalisation
The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
LiveRamp, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
EMX Digital LLC
Nielsen Marketing Cloud
Google (DFP / AdX)
Ad selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
LiveRamp, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
Google (DFP / AdX)
Content selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
LiveRamp, Inc.
Google (DFP / AdX)
Measurement
The collection of information about your use of the content, and combination with previously collected information, used to measure, understand, and report on your usage of the service. This does not include personalisation, the collection of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, i.e. on other service, such as websites or apps, over time.
{{ blurb }}
{{/blurb}} {{#picture_url}}