Two Halves of the Same Whole

By: Bert Ducali

Pick me, Pick me!

Social media has been an enigma that is ever changing since it’s inception. What makes it so desire to people? Why are humans spending hours and hours on Facebook scrolling through a feed ‘liking things?’ Well the answer is the connection. What connection? The connection with people that like things that we like, that do things we do. Facebook allows groups, where people literally talk to strangers, that are connected through homophily. My New York Yankee fan clubs groups and Dallas Cowboys statistic groups are full of people I do know. I stay because my needs are met by communicating with people that feel or enjoy things that are like me.

The concept of homophily is one that is based on similarity breeds connections. This could mean sport groups, political groups, religious groups or people that all just love bacon. This is mostly studied through human studies, which likely have their limitations due to the subject. However, homophily can be used to explain concepts like segregation, community development and other socio-psychological aspects of human life.

References:

Bisgin, H., Agarwal, N. & Xu, X. World Wide Web (2012) 15: 213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11280-011-0143-3

Thank you,

Bert