Thoughts on Tech

Facebook keeps you alive !

Why people use Facebook or Twitter? Why people share videos, pictures and thoughts online? What pleasure do we get from the basic action of uploading a photo or sharing an idea? In the same breath one can also ask why people participate in reality shows, want to be a celebrity or even skydive? It all lies in the urgent need of every human being to feel alive.

Human average life expectancy in present times is about 67 years. We see people come and go from our world. Some of them leave their mark and some of them just enjoy the ride. But everyone want to feel their existence, they want to get the validation that they are here. The basic knowledge that we walk on this world and enjoy its perks makes us happy and fills us with a sense of fulfillment.

When you upload a photo to Facebook from your last trip to NYC, you get excited. The excitement doesn’t come from clicking the mouse or commenting “I love shopping in NYC” on your keyboard. It comes from the feeling that in a few minutes (or hours) you’ll get the acknowledgement that you’re alive. When you know that people will see your photo and acknowledge your existence you feel alive. When your friend writes a response comment like “Great photo, you look amazing!” you get the feedback you needed. The validation that you’re here.

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People are like machines. They are an input-output device. When someone tells you you’re ugly than you’ll feel bad. When someone will hug you you’ll feel good (unless he smells bad). We live our day to day occurrences and react to them. That’s why we can’t feel alive without people (or other outer objects) telling us we’re alive. That’s what Mark Zukerberg and his fellow social services CEOs know. They realized that as long as they give you the feeling that you’re alive they will keep you their “friend”.

You can see a clear difference between Facebook and Google+ and it’s not the social circles. Facebook is full of active users. Your Facebook wall is vivid while your Google+ stream is dull as dishwater. You know there’s a better chance that someone will notice you when you share something on Facebook. And if there’s a better chance someone will notice you than there’s a better chance they’ll give you the validation you need. The validation of existence.

So the next time you publish something on Facebook or twitter or the next time you check-in in Startbucks and become the mayor of your neighborhood coffee shop know that you’re just trying to stay alive.