On Wednesdays we wear pink!!!!
Oh, That Special Feeling
Why do people feel the need to use social media? Well everyone wants that oh so special feeling. There are many different factors that can contribute to feeling connected (2017). A major factor is social validation. Some people depend on social media to help boost their confidence. The amount of likes they get and the attention they get from others on social media increases a person confidence, self-worth, and popularity (2017). That special feeling of being liked is nothing compared to the feeling of being addicted to something and believe me when I say some people are addicted so social media.
Did we just become best friends?
When we are young we usually make friends with the same bug eaters or mud puddle jumping kids and as we get older finding like minded individuals is still our natural instinct when selecting friends. The association with similar individuals or groups refers to the term homophily. Social media is becoming the infinite space for interactions and has exceeded all the expectations in terms of growth (Bisgin et al, 2010).
There are some benefits of homophily in social media. Not only can you find your clique but you can also find others who share the same interests as you whether it is wearing pink on Wednesdays or creating your own furniture by connecting to twin beds together.
Platforms to Happiness, Right?
Why do we need platforms to be happy, well technically we don’t but platform algorithms do have their benefits? For example, Facebook asks questions and follows what you like so that when you log on more and more ads or articles focusing on what you like or need pop up. According to Facebook, they want to make sure that people receive the content they actually care about (Agrawal, 2016).
Felicia Nalley
References
Agrawal, AJ (2016). What do Social Media Algorithms Mean For You?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/04/20/what-do-social-media-algorithms-mean-for-you/#75610387a515
Beat. (2017). Factors that Contribute to Feeling Connected to Social Media.
https://beat.10ztalk.com/2017/09/07/factors-that-contribute-to-feeling-connected-to-social-media/
Bisgin, Halil, Agarwal, Nitin, and Xu, Xiaowei (2010). Investigating Homophily in Online
Social Networks. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5616320/