Facebook, which still has the largest number of users in the world, has become an almost essential part of our digital lives. At this scale, with billions of users, it can in a sense be seen as the most populated country on the planet. It is therefore not surprising that a platform of this magnitude has been closely linked to various scientific and psychological studies.
Why do we like posts on Facebook? Why do we comment on them? What drives us to share content with others? Questions like these, combined with the amount of time people spend on the platform, have made Facebook an important area of interest for many researchers, especially psychologists.
Articles, videos, presentations and many other studies on the psychology of Facebook help us better understand user behaviour on the platform. But what exactly lies behind these behaviours? Let’s take a closer look.
Why do we love Facebook?
Most research to date shows how social media use affects the human brain, and Facebook is often at the centre of these studies.
According to one study, there is a strong connection between Facebook and the nucleus accumbens, the part of the brain associated with reward processing, including food, sex, money and social acceptance. When we receive positive feedback on Facebook, this area becomes more active. In other words, as the intensity of positive emotions we get from Facebook increases, so does the activity in the brain’s reward centre.
Another study shows that participants who checked their Facebook accounts entered what is known as a “flow state”, during which their pupils dilated, indicating heightened engagement.
Why do we “like”?
Facebook explains the act of liking as follows:
“The like action is a way to give positive feedback to things you care about on Facebook. You can use it to show appreciation for your friends’ content or to connect with a page you are interested in.”
“The Like is the wordless nod of support in a loud room.“
According to a study by Pew Research Center on the social media habits of Americans, 44% of Facebook users like their friends’ posts at least once a day, while 29% do so more than once a day. But what drives this behaviour?
To better understand why we engage in the act of liking, a blogger named Elan Morgan conducted an experiment in which she deliberately stopped liking posts for a period of time. At the end of the two-week experiment, she described the results as follows:
“The Like is the wordless nod of support in a loud room. It’s the easiest of yesses, I-agrees, and me-toos. I actually felt pangs of guilt over not liking some updates, as though the absence of my particular Like would translate as a disapproval or a withholding of affection. I felt as though my ability to communicate had been somehow hobbled. The Like function has saved me so much comment-typing over the years that I likely could have written a very quippy, War-and-Peace-length novel by now.”
We want to prove ourselves
Another study suggests that one of the motivations behind liking is the desire to express and affirm who we are. In a study conducted through a Facebook application, the likes of 58,000 participants were made publicly available. The findings showed that these likes could reveal certain personal traits about users, even if they were not explicitly stated.
Based on this data, researchers were able to predict with 95% accuracy whether participants were white or African American, with 88% accuracy whether they were gay men, and with 85% accuracy whether they leaned towards the Democratic or Republican party. In addition, gender could be identified with 93% accuracy, and age could be estimated with 75% accuracy.
We engage in “virtual empathy”
Another psychological aspect of the like button is the desire to show support and solidarity with others. This behaviour is often described as “virtual empathy”, and it can influence how we relate to people beyond the digital space.
According to a study referenced by Psychology Today, spending more time on social networks and engaging through instant messaging platforms can strengthen a person’s presence in digital environments. This form of virtual empathy is also seen as a reflection of empathy in real life.
We expect something in return
Liking behaviour driven by the expectation of something in return is more commonly associated with brand pages. According to research by Syncapse, many users like pages in order to receive discounts, special offers or regular updates from brands they follow.
On the other hand, a 2011 study by eMarketer found that users tend to avoid liking brand pages due to concerns such as spam, privacy issues and low-quality content.
Why do we comment?
At first glance, the answer may seem simple: We comment when we have something to say. However, the act of commenting and the comments we receive can trigger very different responses in the brain.
Compared to liking, commenting has a much deeper psychological impact. In a study involving 1,200 Facebook users, Moira Burke found that personal messages are significantly more satisfying than likes. She describes this as “composed communication”:
“People who received composed communication became less lonely, while people who received one-click communication experienced no change in loneliness.”
Why do we share?
A detailed study by The New York Times sheds light on the motivations behind sharing on social networks. According to the research, the main reasons people share content are as follows:
- Entertainment: 49% of users share content they find useful or entertaining to influence others’ opinions or encourage them to take action.
- Self-definition: 68% share to express who they are and highlight what they care about.
- Strengthening relationships: 78% share information to stay connected with others.
- Seeking acceptance: 69% share to reinforce a sense of belonging.
- Support: 84% share to raise awareness or support causes they care about.
Another survey presents a similar breakdown of sharing motivations:
- To share interesting things (61%)
- To share important information (43%)
- To share something funny (43%)
- To express personal views and beliefs (37%)
- To recommend products, services, films or books (30%)
- To support an organisation or cause (29%)
- To share something unique (26%)
- To show what they are doing (22%)
- To contribute to a conversation (20%)
- To demonstrate knowledge (10%)
It is worth noting that these motivations can vary across countries as shown in the table below:
Looking specifically at Turkey, the data shows that users tend to score above average across most categories. In particular, sharing for important topics, making recommendations, and demonstrating knowledge appear to be significantly more common compared to other countries.
Sharing behaviour also has a direct impact on emotions. Higher levels of sharing can trigger both high-arousal emotions such as fear or anger, and lower-arousal emotions such as sadness or satisfaction.
What happens if we do not engage?
So far, we have explored the psychology behind liking, commenting and sharing on Facebook. But what happens if we do none of these and simply observe from a distance?
A study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University in 2010 found that when users actively engage on Facebook through actions such as liking, commenting and sharing, their sense of social connection increases while feelings of loneliness decrease. The opposite is also true. When users remain passive and only observe, feelings of loneliness and isolation tend to rise. Over time, this can even contribute to depression.
Conclusion
As we have seen, even the simplest action on Facebook, such as liking a post, can have a meaningful impact on human psychology. At times, these small interactions can make us feel connected and uplifted, while at other times they may contribute to negative emotional states.
It is therefore reasonable to expect that, in the coming years, the relationship between digital life and human psychology will attract even greater attention, with more research and deeper analysis in this area.
Sources: Medical News Today, Mary Ann Liebert, Pew Research Center, Elan Morgan (Medium), PNAS, Psychology Today, Syncapse, Emarketer, The Atlantic, Buffer Social, New York Times (SlideShare), Ipsos, Carnegie Mellon University (ACM).