Why Do People Use Facebook?
Why do people use Facebook? A lot of us use social networking sites like Facebook to connect with our family or friends. It is a great venue to communicate with a lot of people. A user-friendly yet feature-filled platform, Facebook allows you to post updates, photos and videos so all your loved ones in any part of the world can get a glimpse on how you are doing. In terms of information dissemination, you need not send multiple e-mails because you can just make a post where everybody can give their responses.
Answering to the question “Why do people use Facebook?” is belongingness. Psychologists say that as social animals, people want to belong in a community. Being part of groups in Facebook allows them to get that feeling. Users can join groups about stuff they are interested in like music, sports, and even people they idolize. They can start conversations within the group and create a whole virtual world for themselves.
Related to this is explained in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which is the need for self-expression. Facebook is a site that enables people to do so. They can “like” and comment on anything such as status updates, photos, groups, pages, etc. Those who lack social skills prefer to express themselves on Facebook rather than on the real world. This spares them from awkwardness, anxiety, intimidation and shyness of starting a conversation or the whole process of interaction. Some use social networks to meet new friends and even to find dates. They prefer to get to know someone online first before meeting up in person.
Facebook is not only for personal purposes. In fact, another answer to the query “Why do people use Facebook?” is to acquire business opportunities. Companies are not merely advertising on television, radio or print. More and more businesses have found a way to broaden their audience through social media. With billions of active users, Facebook is the number one social networking site in the world. It is not only effective but it is also an inexpensive way to reach potential customers.
Another answer to “Why do people use Facebook?” is to have job opportunities. Various sites such as LinkedIn give job hunters a chance to have professional connections. They facilitate job hunting, where resume and information can be given out to numerous companies faster than a traditional local networking event. Just a warning to those who intend to use Facebook as a job hunting tool, users must screen or filter their posts so potential employers would not be repelled.
