The Psychology of Facebook: What Draws Users In

By Kellie McClain

As society becomes increasingly technologically inclined, the dependency on constant social connection through internet usage continues to rise. Everyday millions of Americans rely on the internet to help them stay in contact with the rest of the world. Facebook, attracted over 500 million users each day, is the most used social networking site (SNS) in the world. Researches have concluded that SNSs such as Facebook are visited to give users three main capabilities; (1) to create a personal profile accessible to others, (2) to establish a connection with a particular list of individuals, and (3) to keep track of connection made with and between others. In order to understand psychologically what attracts so many users to SNSs such as Facebook there are two major psychological needs to consider that are satisfied through Facebook use.  These include the need to belong and the need to for self-preservation.

With Facebook's high amount of daily users, it is likely that most, if not all, of an individuals social circle of family and friends have an account with Facebook and are using it frequently. This gives motivation for that individual to become a frequent user themselves in order to avoid the feeling of being ostracized and out of the social loop. It is very important for one to feel a satisfactory amount of inclusion with others since recent research has shown that a lack of social connection negatively correlates with levels of self-esteem and self-worth. A study was conducted in 2010 to show how self-esteem is effects by Facebook, specifically the viewing and editing of one's own profile. Results concluded that such tasks significantly increase levels of self-esteem and self-assessment which further strengthens the idea of Facebook use in relation to self-esteem.

Recent surveys conducted of Facebook profiles of undergraduate students shows that the image the individuals portray of themselves is closely related to their profile picture, Those with seemingly sexual, wild, or offensive profile pictures have been shown to make posts and descriptions that are consistent with their picture as well as those with proper or otherwise conservative profile pictures. It has also been shown that those who portray a desirable and well-liked persona through their Facebook profiles are equally as desired in face-to-face interaction. It is suggested that the profile an individual displays to the Facebook community direct reflects that individuals public persona.

Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3335399/