Two months later: Still addicted

Well, it’s been a couple of months since I returned to Facebook & Twitter after my one-month hiatus (plan here, results here). Time to reflect on  where I’m at now with my social network usage. As you may have guessed from the title & image, it’s not going too well.

I am completely, hopelessly addicted to Facebook. I check it several times a day, eagerly checking for new notifications or comments in response to my contributions. The “twitchiness” of checking email, Twitter & Facebook several times a day is back. One of my conclusions was that Facebook has a value and that I miss it when I’m not there, and I fear that now I’ve given myself “permission” to go on Facebook, I’ve let myself get sucked in. I realize now that Facebook is designed to be addictive. Seeing the “Likes” on your posts is like popping pills that give you an amphetamine rush. The stream of new “notifications” is an intravenous drip delivering compliments and ego strokes directly into your psyche.

I recently came across an interesting article on the Psychology of Social Media by Doug Firebaugh, which argues that there are 7 reasons we participate. It’s written from a social media marketer’s perspective but it makes some interesting points. Here’s Doug’s list (I combined a couple), with my own take on them:

• We want to be acknowledged. Facebook is far more rewarding than blogging because if I post something, you don’t have to comment for me to know you read it. You can hit Like, and people frequently do, giving us a Pavlovian validation for our posts.
• We want attention. Why just talk to one friend when you can have all your “friends” look at you at once. Facebook nurtures your inner drama queen, encouraging you to stand up on a pedestal and say “look at me and what I have to say”. And it uses your friends to reward you with gold stars (Likes) on the things you share.
• We want to be approved of/appreciated. Since most of the people on Facebook are real people who know you, you won’t get a lot of negative feedback to anything you say. But you will get lots of approval through Likes and comments. This generally positive feedback makes you feel great and like everyone appreciates you. Nothing about Facebook is set up to discourage you, so you post more and more.
• We want to be acclaimed. This is something Twitter excels at, with its culture of “Retweets” and giving public mention to people who share something interesting or make a difference to you. Facebook are late to the game, but with their pseudo-@ mentions/links in comments and now the ability to re-share a friend’s link “via” that friend, they are now encouraging the ability for us all to showcase each other and make us feel even more admired.
• We want to be assured. By encouraging a trusted community where you can share your thoughts with a wide group, Facebook makes a highly effective forum for getting feedback and assurance that your thoughts are “normal”. It’s a sort of groupthink. Should I do X? I don’t know, let’s ask Facebook. Increasingly Facebook is becoming an amorphous friendblob and we think less about the individual friends within, or the implications of such wide sharing of our inner thoughts.
• We want to belong. By highlighting mutual friendships, showing us activity from friends of friends, and combining together friends who have shared the same update, Facebook constantly reinforces the idea that Facebook is an elite social club that we love to be part of. Everyone has a different view of Facebook, it’s full of people “like you”, who you feel a sense of belonging to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image (C) by jasonjhr on Flickr.