Have you ever thought about why you Facebook? Or why you use
any other social media? I honestly didn’t, until I read the first chapter of
“Share This” by The Chartered Institute of Public Relations. They threw some
shocking numbers at you within the first couple pages, like every one in six
minutes spent online is on social media (4), one in nine people have a Facebook
account (3), and 57% of people talk more on social media then they do in real
life (4).
Now, that last one scares me a little bit. Is this a good
thing? Should people be talking less in real life and more on the Internet? I
don’t think so. But maybe I’ll talk about that in another blog!
What really stood out to me was that humans are motivated to share
online for many reasons. These reasons are “researching, finding information and
inspiration, participating, connecting with friends and for entertainment” (5).
I’ve never thought about why I Facebook before. I mainly do because I’ve always
done it. It’s become a habit.
However, I can justify all my actions on Facebook with these
reasons. Creeping on someone can be considered “research.” Looking for the
Padrone’s phone number is “finding information.” When I like a status or
comment on a picture, that’s “participation.” Writing a Happy Birthday post or
messaging someone is “connecting with friends.” And watching all those funny
cat videos everyone posts is “for entertainment.”
See, I was already doing all these things on Facebook! Now I
know why.
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ReplyDeleteKelly, I think it is extremely important to think about why you are present on social media platforms such as Facebook. Until a few years ago I never really gave it much thought either. I simply uploaded pictures to Facebook and updated my status just because everyone else was doing it. Then I thought about how trivial most of activity on Facebook was, and now I rarely post at all. I think that our generation and future generations need to be particularly aware of WHY they are engaging on social media. I don't care if people are trying to research or find inspirations as long as they know WHY instead of simply doing it because everyone else is doing it.
ReplyDeleteI never use Facebook anymore as I have realized that it is taking over most people's lives. Another reason I don't is because I don't like what people put online. I would start by just deleting them when I disliked the post but it got to be out of hand so I just logged out and shut it down for good. I am proud of myself due to it was a habit for me as well and I'm happy I stopped cold turkey. It's easy try it!
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