I try not to be judgmental but with a lot of things people post I just ask, “why”?
Most of the time I feel poster is simply looking for attention and not adding anything substantive to their follower’s lives. If you want to share something interesting, funny, or important, go for it. If you want to post something you made or something cool you did, go for it. If you want to show a really cool place you went to, that’s also great.
But if you all you post selfies, pictures of you and your friends posing at the bar, or some generic going out pic of whatever place you’re at to show people you have friends and do things on weekends, why?
Personally I’ve been afraid for a very long time to post anything on social media, because I have this mentality of “nobody cares, why bother.” Or I’m otherwise scared of being judged. And people don’t really swipe up or genuinely interact anyways. I don’t think I’m good enough a content creator or have an interesting enough life to add anything of substance to peoples lives. But then again,
5 comments
Narcissism.
There are a few reasons.
* It’s nice to have a little diary that reminds you of good times.
* Posting group selfies forms and solidifies friend groups and makes people in that friend group feel included. Eg ‘i want you to feel like you belong in my life’.
* You’re “walking into the room”, so to speak. The nature of what you share doesn’t matter too much, because the point is to have your presence in the “room” that is a social media dashboard. In other words, sharing on social media is a way to get your friends to wave at you so you can strike up a conversation.
* People like to comment on other people’s selfies/images, and it also feels good to get attention. I don’t think getting attention is necessarily a bad thing, and it’s probably just as self-serving as making a Reddit post looking for information and/or venting.
* Those “going out with friends” images actually do have value anyway, to followers who choose to follow them. It provides a cultural update of what places are fun to visit. If gives an update of what their social circle looks like (if they’re someone you know irl). It lets you get informed about fashion and beauty trends. It lets you get a few conversation pieces for later (did you see Emma’s new hair?). It lets you get an easy “in” for conversation (“you look great! Is that top Zara?”). It even provides some parasocial moments.
* You’re kind of assuming that the purpose of social media is to give value to your followers, and that any other use case is incorrect. But the reality is that people use social media for a variety of reasons, the biggest one being the formation and upkeep of social relationships (not that it’s great for them, but that’s why they’re used). I think you end up seeing variety because you’re not often forced to follow anyone. If someone is posting too many selfies there are a few ways to make those selfies stop appearing, such as unfollowing or blocking.
People post what makes them happy, not to entertain others
I think you’re probably putting too much thought into it. Post a selfie because you were having a good time when you took it and because you think you look good in the picture. I promise that most people don’t look too much into it and the selfie is more for you than anyone else. I use to take picture all the time to post but stopped around 2017 and now looking back I regret not having those memories for myself.
I think how people use social media is down to personal preference. I don’t personally post a lot myself but I enjoy seeing what other people have been up to. I can also pick up on things which can be used as a conversation starter for in person, such as “I saw on Facebook you went to that new bar that opened, how was it?”.
You can always unfollow people if you don’t enjoy their content.