The Psychology of Facebook
Social networking in this generation has really become very popular. I personally happen to like Facebook! Anytime I want to check up on my friends and what’s been going on, Facebook is my answer. Also on Facebook, there is a birthday app which allows me to stay up to date with my friends and family’s birthdays.
From a psychological stand point, I would say Facebook ties into developmental psychology. (Baron & Kalsher, 2008) On there people constantly post things they are doing and things they have done. Sometimes good, and other times bad. This lets me know how they’ve changed or if they’ve actually changed at all. On Facebook you can also post pictures up. These pictures can range from a photo of your physical self to let’s say, a pair of shoes you like. This lets me know how my friends or even I has changed physically.
To know anything about Facebook you would need a good sense of sight. This ties you to sensation, the process that refers our body sensing our environment through smell, touch, site, and sound. (Heffner, April, 2001) (Baron & Kalsher, 2008) It also can be defined as the process that allows senses to gather information and send it to the brain. (Baron & Kalsher, 2008) (Heffner, April, 2001) Having a good knowledge of computer usage is necessary. The brain has to gather what the eyes see on Facebook to help you navigate through. This can be quite confusing to new users.
Facebook has many links, which are pointers that get to specific areas. In order to know these pointers, your brain has to translate the information seen by the eyes; which falls into the perception category. (Heffner, April, 2001) Say for example you see a date (11/29/1965) and a person name by it. By clicking that link your computer or device you are using will go to a different page. This page is the birthday calendar, which lets you know what friends and family member’s birthday is close by. This can be very resourceful.
Friends and family get on Facebook to interact with others. Many times people get on to just chat and meet new people. Surfing around endlessly can have you in a very alert state of consciousness. Wanting to see what new outfits friends have, their relationship status, and even what they are thinking about doing. Seeing that a friend you had a crush on years ago