Why We Share on Social Media

Social Media is huge! Those who have been sucked into the ‘social media time vacuum’ can agree how easy it is to spend hours flipping through posts, pictures, tweets, videos and links. We can’t get enough! Think about this… according to this infographic by Domo.com, in a single minute, we send out 277,000 tweets; share 2,460,000 pieces of content on Facebook; post 216,000 new photos on Instagram; and upload 72 hours of new video on YouTube. SO MUCH SHARING!!! So what makes us want to share all this information on a platform that is accessible to anyone in the world (with an internet connection of course) at any point in time?  Here are a few reasons why:

1. We like to brag.
   
   Did you make yourself an amazing meal and your friends consider your cooking skills to be mediocre – snap a pic to prove your culinary genius. Have you set a personal goal to run a half marathon this year and you’re ahead of the game? Post how many miles you ran through your Nike + iPod app – get your fitness on! New hair cut? Selfie! Your long term boyfriend finally put a ring on it? Change that Facebook status girl! Tell the world! Sharing these moments in our lives provide us all with a sense of secured identity. You know who you are and you want everyone else to know.
2. We like free stuff.
   
   You see an ad on Facebook that if you share the page of your favourite clothing store you can be entered into a contest to win a $1000 shopping spree– what do you do? Share it with EVERYONE! Incentives are big motivators for people to share promotions and offers from the companies they love. Who doesn’t love free swag?
3.  We want moral support.
   
   Working on a project that’s dear to your heart? Posting pictures and statuses and receiving a lot of “likes” for these shares give us that warm and fuzzy feeling that we’re doing something good. The more “likes” your pictures, statuses, tweets and videos receive the better you feel. You’ve shared something with your personal community and it’s being acknowledged (and if it’s really great – shared with your friends’ friends for mass awareness). That’s the beauty of social media.
4. We like to connect.
   
   Life gets busy… sometimes too busy. If the people you like to connect with or that are special in your life are miles away, social media can help you bridge the gap and nurture that relationship. How often have you said to a friend that you haven’t seen in forever – “so what’s been going on? How are things? What’s new?”  Social media keeps you up to date. Some may call it creeping… some may call it research… some may call it simply catching up – but whatever spin you want to put on it, we like social media because it helps us to keep in touch with the people we wish we could see more often.  Have you ever been in an instance where you’ve seen something on your social media feeds that reminds you of someone else? If the recollection is of a good nature – your first instinct may be to share that picture, video or tweet. It’s a quick connection that helps us to tell our family, friends and contacts “hey, this made me think about you!”

Whatever your reason for sharing, the stats clearly show that we don’t plan on “keeping to ourselves” anytime soon! Live, laugh, love and SHARE!