Ever wonder how this undying trend of social media came into being? How in a mere few years, the entire world changed for good? You would think that it’s all leisure time on the hands of emotionally derived teenagers, but that’s not all. The social media boom, I must say, happened because there’s definitely science involved. The way your hands can’t stop scrolling down for one more news feed post, the way you can’t ignore a notification alert, it’s not all you. The electrochemical signals in your brain modify your desires such that you can’t stop from liking one more post, sharing one more news and you certainly can’t let go that pop-up which keeps indicating that your friends/followers have been paying attention to your account details.
To understand this complex yet a natural process that drives almost all of our daily lives, we would elaborate the details in an interesting way:
Social media forums like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter activate our rewarding centers in the brain. This is indicated by dilation of pupils, as the people browse through their feeds.
Hormonal overdrive
You start feeling content for a reason other than an obvious one, that’s when your brain is producing an intricate balance of chemicals that keep the feeling of contentment and satisfaction throughout.
Dopamine
A hormone that’s associated with the emotion of ecstasy so natural that you won’t even recognize until it’s gone. That is what browsing through Facebook does to you.
Oxytocin
A hormone linked to the contentment as a result of physical contact and the feeling of safety that follows is also released during your time on Facebook.
Post, comment, like and share
It’s a human nature to discuss themselves, their lives and what significant event went down. Though it’s not always that we might find a listening ear, through Facebook, we get introduced to countless prying eyes, which do show an actual interest in our lives, which acts as an addiction to attention.
Why share?
Talking about you seems natural, but why do we share knowledge about others?
Human psychology dictates how sharing information is an innate maneuver that comes without realization.
Initially, it bounces back to how you want to be seen to the people around. About 68% of the people claim that what they share mirrors them and how they want to be perceived.
But a bigger majority (about 78%) agrees on the fact that sharing helps them stay connected with the people and strengthen their relationships.
Moneymaker
Advertisements on social media are a huge part of any business these days. About 69% of the people claim to feel better and more valuable when people act positively to their posts.
Liking on social media
The like button is extensively popular among the users of Facebook. About 2 billion active users generate 4 million likes every minute and the number is still going up.
According to psychology:
From a marketers point of view, comments help them to get to know their audience better. They can pinpoint the amendments that they need and strengthen the aspects that are appreciated:
Emojis and the world of social media
You don’t need an elaborate composition of complicated words to describe how you're feeling. Emojis are the evolutionary step towards the description of one’s feeling.
About 92% of the people use stickers, emoticons and emojis regularly in US during online communication. And over 6 billion emojis are sent around the globe every day.
A study shows, 72 percent of people say it is easier to transmit feelings through emoji.
Past memories
Reminiscing the past is a natural feeling once you sit back in a quiet room away from the hassle of the chaotic world outside.
Social media gives people a platform to share their past with the people that they want to know across the different cultures and nationalities.
The dark side of social media
Where it’s documented that social media is a source of joy goodwill among people, an aspect of social media also promotes depression and loneliness.
Instagram envy is an actual state of the users that consider themselves as failures while comparing their lives with that of more successful people.
In a survey of around 7000 people, it was revealed that about 42% suffer from Pinterest Stress that makes them believe that they're not creative enough.
Have an opinion yet?
It’s up to you now, how you take this latest trend in technology that does not seem to go away anytime soon.
Good and bad both comprise most of the things that we deal with every day, social media falls into that category as well. All that remains is what you want to focus on!
To understand this complex yet a natural process that drives almost all of our daily lives, we would elaborate the details in an interesting way:
Social media forums like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter activate our rewarding centers in the brain. This is indicated by dilation of pupils, as the people browse through their feeds.
Hormonal overdrive
You start feeling content for a reason other than an obvious one, that’s when your brain is producing an intricate balance of chemicals that keep the feeling of contentment and satisfaction throughout.
Dopamine
A hormone that’s associated with the emotion of ecstasy so natural that you won’t even recognize until it’s gone. That is what browsing through Facebook does to you.
Oxytocin
A hormone linked to the contentment as a result of physical contact and the feeling of safety that follows is also released during your time on Facebook.
Post, comment, like and share
It’s a human nature to discuss themselves, their lives and what significant event went down. Though it’s not always that we might find a listening ear, through Facebook, we get introduced to countless prying eyes, which do show an actual interest in our lives, which acts as an addiction to attention.
Why share?
Talking about you seems natural, but why do we share knowledge about others?
Human psychology dictates how sharing information is an innate maneuver that comes without realization.
Initially, it bounces back to how you want to be seen to the people around. About 68% of the people claim that what they share mirrors them and how they want to be perceived.
But a bigger majority (about 78%) agrees on the fact that sharing helps them stay connected with the people and strengthen their relationships.
Moneymaker
Advertisements on social media are a huge part of any business these days. About 69% of the people claim to feel better and more valuable when people act positively to their posts.
Liking on social media
The like button is extensively popular among the users of Facebook. About 2 billion active users generate 4 million likes every minute and the number is still going up.
According to psychology:
- When we like something of someone’s, we add value to the relationship and it grows stronger.
- Also, someone else liking our posts makes us feel obliged to like theirs, known as reciprocity effect.
From a marketers point of view, comments help them to get to know their audience better. They can pinpoint the amendments that they need and strengthen the aspects that are appreciated:
- Comments can make or break the value of something
- Users read the comments and form an idea, either good or bad about the product.
- Comment can absolutely ruin the product for the users if the words used are impolite and rude.
- While comments with a friendly tone of language, even negative, make a nice wholesome image for the product.
Emojis and the world of social media
You don’t need an elaborate composition of complicated words to describe how you're feeling. Emojis are the evolutionary step towards the description of one’s feeling.
About 92% of the people use stickers, emoticons and emojis regularly in US during online communication. And over 6 billion emojis are sent around the globe every day.
A study shows, 72 percent of people say it is easier to transmit feelings through emoji.
Past memories
Reminiscing the past is a natural feeling once you sit back in a quiet room away from the hassle of the chaotic world outside.
Social media gives people a platform to share their past with the people that they want to know across the different cultures and nationalities.
The dark side of social media
Where it’s documented that social media is a source of joy goodwill among people, an aspect of social media also promotes depression and loneliness.
Instagram envy is an actual state of the users that consider themselves as failures while comparing their lives with that of more successful people.
In a survey of around 7000 people, it was revealed that about 42% suffer from Pinterest Stress that makes them believe that they're not creative enough.
Have an opinion yet?
It’s up to you now, how you take this latest trend in technology that does not seem to go away anytime soon.
Good and bad both comprise most of the things that we deal with every day, social media falls into that category as well. All that remains is what you want to focus on!
