Oh,… You “Liked” That Too?!
In the age of information, where we all want to know more and learn what we do not, why do we keep our social media so familiar?
I am not going to pretend I don’t do it too. I “like” posts that I agree with, am tagged in or share similar posts about. If I come across something that may have an opposing view I am wiry of veering away from that “comfort” zone.
I, of course, always prided myself with being an “outlaw” and never really following the crowd. A “rebel” in a small town kind of thing I suppose. However, I myself, really do not like to “make waves” on social media and find I like to keep my feeds light and simple for lack better explanation. I also post what I know will get a laugh, Like, or positive comment. I am also very strategic in what I comment on as well. So as to not shake up the norm.
Only recently did I realize there is a definition for this. Why we “follow” who we do. What algorithm follows. Why we keep within our comfort circle. Homophily or “love of the same”. “Whoa! I’m not sure this sounds like a good word,” first thought to jump into my mind while researching. However, makes a lot of sense. Even so, is this a good thing? Does it promote community and growing or is it setting us back from having normal self- esteem and conversation?
Let’s use teenagers in this day and age for an example. I know from watching my you younger cousins that their smartphones are glued to their sides at all times when it comes to communicating with peers. During my research this week I read a few journal articles looked at the the link between self-esteem and “likes” on social media, preferably Facebook and the like. In a social experiment done for Cyber psychology, Behavior and Social Networking Journal;Donghee Yvette Wohn, PhD, Caleb T Carr,PhD and Rebecca A. Hayes,PhD(2016), came to the conclusion that “whether by sheer volume received or one’s subjective satisfaction with them-mean something to the receiver.”
In a similar study done for the University of Innsbruck Department of Psychology published in Elsevier Journal; Tobias Greitemeyer(2015,2016) concludes that there is a direct correlation between self-esteem and Facebook usage and responses. To me, this is extremely important. While on one hand we are building awareness of one’s self and those we surround ourselves with, we are also isolating our conversations and staying within our comfort boundaries. This bit of information is also showing that youth are relying on peers to effect their self-esteem, awareness, and overall growth. In other words, social media is another obstacle to navigate as an adolescent instead of a tool.
As an adult, I am not so sure we know much better ourselves. In the day and age of online critique of one another and nasty blurbs by “unknown” on your current post, it is hard not to to think of it as being a huge step backward in society. However, I can certainly see how our homophily helps social media predict our algorithms and provide companies with knowledge of each individual and the “company they keep”.
I am not sure that I have come to much of a conclusion this week, hopefully I have started to find my voice here in my own little corner of social media, but I still do not have my mind fully wrapped around the subject of Homophily yet. I feel like overall, at least on social media, it is too new a definition to say it is “good” or “bad”.
Although, I think we know which way I am leaning towards…
Kristen
References:
- Greitemeyer, T. (2016). Facebook and people’s self-esteem: The impact of the number of other users’ Facebook friends. Computer in Human Behavior, 59, 182–186.
- Wohn, D. Y., Carr, C. T., & Hayes, R. A. (2016). How affective is a “like”?: The effect of paralinguistic digital affordances on perceived social support. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(9), 562–566.