Are You Like Me or Am I Like You?
Almost everybody you know is linked to social media, one way or another. It could be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. and by now they are probably your friends too. Who do you follow? Who follows you? There are many people who seek to be friends with whomever on social media, but majority of society uses it to connect with family, friends, and people with whom they share an interest with.
There is Just Something about This Feeling
Social media is so much more than just posting pictures, sharing videos, and quotes. Social media helps feel the need of community and the feeling of belonging. Interacting with others allows you to get to know others depending on what they share. The following factors help that sense of belonging and that desire for a social connection with others
- Membership: Is the feeling of personal similarity with others. This factor is where you decide what you want your community to be. You decide what you like and what you share, as well as who you want as a friend. You don’t just add anyone to your community, you add those who are good fit to you (Spinks, 2013).
- Influence: a sense of mattering is important. A person wants to feel as though they can influence others, while others influence them (Spinks, 2013). Your community is people who share interest and want to hear what you have going on, while you want to know what is going on with them. It is genuine interest in each other that gives that sense of influence.
- Integration and Fulfillment of Needs: engaging with members of the community (friends and family) essentially gives a person the feeling that others will reciprocate. Having a sense of belonging, a support network, and inspiration are all needs that met when participating with others (Spinks, 2013). Most importantly others get a better understanding about who you are, as you will about them.
- Shared Emotional Connection: The friends and family you add to your community are all people a person has a history of experiences with (Spinks, 2013). This encourages a belief that sometime in the future you will share more experiences together. These experiences form an emotional connection, reassuring every member of the bond they share with others.
Move in the Same Circles
Forming a bond with others who share similar beliefs, attitudes, values, etc. is called Homophily (The Free Dictionary by Farlex, 2003–2018). Social media usage helps make this bond with others much stronger. Homophily has created such a foretelling power that researchers examine online interactions and predict real-life friendships (Hampton, 2017). A person never really notices that when they are friending people on social media, they are basing their decisions off homophily. Location and sentiment homophily attract a person to add people who live or work near them or people who share similar views (Hampton, 2017). The benefit of homophily in social media is that a person is attracted to others with similar interest. These similar interests help peak conversations and build relationships.
Great Minds Think Alike
How is it that you are all your friends on Facebook see the same advertisements and groups, or pages? Social media sites like Facebook change their algorithms constantly to make sure that people be given the content they care about (Agrawal, 2016). All social media sites are changing their algorithms so that a person can see what they like and want to see, which bases everything on your engagement while on social media (Agrawal, 2016). Over time all social media sites will use the same algorithms to keep all users content and as technology advances algorithm-based feeds will become more intelligent (Agrawal, 2016).
Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it 😊
Resources
(2003–2018). Retrieved from The Free Dictionary by Farlex: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/homophily
Agrawal, A. (2016, April 20). What Do Social Media Algorithms Mean For You? Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/04/20/what-do-social-media-algorithms-mean-for-you/#17007d8fa515
Hampton, U. o. (2017). Homophily in Social Networks. Retrieved from Future Learn: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/social-media/0/steps/16055
Spinks, D. (2013, November 19). The Psychology of Communities — 4 Factors that Create a “Sense of Community”. Retrieved from The Community Manager: http://thecommunitymanager.com/2013/11/19/the-psychology-of-communities-4-factors-that-create-a-sense-of-community/