1. The cause of the modern obsession with social media
2. The effects of social media on human mind and behavior
Facebook. Twitter. Reddit. Youtube. All websites that our society "abuses" on a second-to-second basis. Within a 10 minute walk through campus, I'd be willing to bet that half of the people you see are using social media one way or another. We've become so engulfed in using social media that a bulk of our free time and even work time involves the usage of social media. During lecture halls if you were to sit behind all of the students, you'd think you were at Facebook's headquarters. Society's obsession with this phenomenon is becoming increasingly evident and I think I know why.
First, I would like to clarify that I personally use Facebook and Twitter regularly (maybe too regularly) so I vouch for myself when I say that my assumptions are credible. So lets break it down, what is social networking? According to this source social networking is a social instrument of communication. Great, so it's a way that we can communicate with each other through the web. But wasn't something invented in the 70's to do just that? Oh yeah, e-mail. However, modern day society often prefers social media to communicate with one another as opposed to e-mail. And how could you blame us? Sites like Facebook and Twitter provide fresh, contemporary, and advanced ways of communicating. But our relentless obsession with social media has to be more than that.
My personal theory of solving this question primarily consists of simple observations. We as humans like to do what is in our best interest. It's simple behavioral economics. Social networking allows people to freely express themselves or even an alter-ego to the public, without facing any of the consequences. In real world situations we are always directly or indirectly pressured to abide by the norm. There is always that unwritten code of conduct to abide by in public settings. For example, it would be unusual and frowned upon to speak loudly and obnoxiously on a quiet bus. The more accepted behavior is to sit and be quiet. The objective is to avoid negative attention because negative attention often leads to shame and embarrassment, which is obviously not desirable. However, social media allows us to freely exhibit any and all feelings or expressions into a public environment without physically having to deal with the judgment, embarrassment, and/or degradation that we would in reality. It eliminates most if not all of the factors that coincide with the pressures of obeying with society's social guidelines. I've noticed a trend with people, me being one of them, utilizing social media as a tool to publicize how wonderful their lives are and outline the positive aspects of their lives. Facebook and Twitter provide the option to post statements, pictures, comments, invitations, etc in which people use to their boastful advantage. It essentially allows people to rub in the public's face the image of, "I'm cool/cooler than you!" This indirect method of showing off gives people a sense of self-satisfaction. The benefits don't even stop there. Facebook allows people to "like" one anothers posts/pictures whereas Twitter allows people to "retweet" or "favorite" others tweets which all serve the same purpose of expressing agreement and approval. Even these features are used for personal benefit; those who provide positive feedback usually receive positive feedback. The combination of flaunting oneself and receiving positive feedback on said flaunting creates an ongoing cycle with the sole purpose of achieving self-satisfaction. Scientific research even proves that areas in the brain like the 'Prefrontal Pleasure Center' (PPC) secrete "happiness" chemicals when somebody is pleased or satisfied.
I firmly believe that our obsession with social media is not only because of its power to communicate quickly and efficiently, but mostly because of something a bit more psychological. Have any of you noticed the same things that I did? I welcome all types of feedback