Why are we so used to FB? As if it were a habit. Obsessed, are we? What does FB give us? Well the site explains itself as “helps you connect and share with the people in your life”. Well, if that be it, then our good old post office, courier service, phone, mobile, chat, BBM, WhatsApp and so many of them in the past and present potentially do the same. BBM is an obsession with some I know but FB is different. What makes it so?
We can share pics, videos, articles, thoughts… we can poke too. But is that it? Whats so fascinating about that? It can broadcast as opposed to ‘send’. Well yes, but then… anyways is it just FB or any social networking site that we don’t take too much time hooking to.
At one level FB is a pure entertainment medium. Just like TV, for example. It keeps us glued to it. Just like we put TV on when we walk into our homes, we open FB when we log on to our work stations. Many of us are constantly on with it on our mobiles.
There are two things at play. When we do something people we know see it. They comment. We see their comments and comment again. They like our status and we like that. We add pics and people say ‘Wow! looking good’. Got a promotion and people ‘like’ it. Feeling low and people ‘like’ it too. Whatever we do, there is someone responding. After a long time we are being heard. Noticed.
Humans, unlike animals, have always liked attention. And since these are people we know and are our friends, they are generally kind and notice us positively. Humans like that even more. After long we have got hold of something that helps us project ourselves in a way people notice. People who matter.
The other human trait that is working here is the need for conversations and at times, gossips. FB gives that to us. The fodder to make conversations. Look…what he said. See what she is wearing. Let me see what he is up to these days. It creates conversations. It helps us know what is going on in peoples’ lives. Marry the two – need to be noticed and to know what is going on people’s lives - and you have a lethal combination.
I believe that apart from all the features that the app or similar sns apps offer, the real reason behind its success or for that matter our obsession, is these two latent human needs. Think about it.
