Here are a few of the reasons why people use facebook/social media. There could be more but here is a good start...
Some of these need a little explanation I think. Lets start with narcissistic. There was a study done that tried to prove that people who use facebook are narcissistic. It could not be proven because there are so many reasons that people use facebook and obviously not everyone that uses it is narcissistic. It is thought that people who spend a lot of time on it could be though. And what about the people who tell us almost every detail of their life?
This goes along with the notion that some people need attention, or to feel important. They may feel like if other people "like" what they say that they are validated in some way.
Is facebook just a big popularity contest though? Is it all just a big competition between our friends to see who has the most interesting life? I think on a mostly sub-conscious level, yes. Some people think that if they have more friends than someone else that it means something. Others think that if their statuses or pictures get a lot of likes that people really like them. I think what it really comes down to though is the need to feel like they matter.
Everyone needs to feel like they matter in one way or another. Facebook seems to create a community where people can feel like they matter in a virtual world. Some people are able to express themselves in ways that they may not have been able to before social media. People can join groups, post memes, and upload photos to help people know who they "really are".
The interesting thing about facebook is that it's a virtual world that often coincides with the real world. We can find out more about people we met in person by looking at their facebook profile. We can keep track of friends that have moved away and reconnect with childhood friends. It is hard to say though whether this allows us to connect with others on a deeper level or a more superficial "fake" level.
Opponents of facebook claim that we can use the "old fashioned" way of communicating like phone and email that existed before facebook. But does facebook allow us to make connections with people that we otherwise would never make?
I think that the bottom line is that there are good and bad things about having a virtual world, like facebook. I think that we need to be careful how we use such a thing. It is ok to use facebook as a tool to aid us in keeping in touch with others as long as we also connect with them in the real world as well. It is ok to want to feel like we matter, but we shouldn't end up mattering only in a virtual world.
Here are some of my sources:
