Facebook is not about sharing, it's about competing

By Serge Bronstein
8-3-2013

HUMAN COMPETITION and FACEBOOK as a COMPETITION TOOL

Overview

Most people understand that the world is a competitive place. But, in my opinion, competition is behind virtually everything a human being does. Just as Sigmund Freud stipulated that sexual feelings are the innate driving force of everything people do, so is competitiveness. Nature has ingrained competitiveness in all living creatures. Species not only compete amongst each other, they compete with other species as well. However, competition is highly relative, corresponding to Einstein's theory of relativity. Humans compete with other humans for things that are relative, and change depending on many factors.

In humans, competition is present everywhere. Furthermore, people do everything with the subconscious purpose of being better than others. The goal is not to achieve anything specific, but to be better than the next person. If we look at a 100 meter dash. Your goal is not to run the dash in a specific time, your goal is to run it faster than the fastest human on earth, whatever time that human registers. There is a similar situation with wealth. People are not trying to achieve a specific amount of wealth, they are trying to achieve MORE wealth than others. Wealth is a very relative term. For example, at the dawn of the automobile revolution, people owning a car were considered rich. But now, since cars are so affordable, owning a car has lost prestige.

Competition as it relates to Facebook

There are very few places where human competition is as evident as it is on Facebook. Facebook is a great study in human competitiveness and narcissism, which is a characteristic of competitive people. In fact, Facebook is not about sharing, Facebook is about competing.

Let's dissect the anatomy of a typical Facebook post, a photograph showing the original poster (OP) with friends and members of the opposite sex, smiling and having fun on a night out. Through this post, the OP is subconsciously trying to show that they are better than other people, in essence, competing with them. How? By showing that they have more friends with them. By showing that they are affluent, and able to afford good clothing, drinks, a night out. That they are attractive to the opposite sex.

Facebook posts are clearly a competition for likes and comments. Facebook users, as well as their posts, are competing for an audience, and those users that consistently receive more likes and comments are considered "winners", while those who do not - "losers".

Facebook is a brutal competition in popularity. It can bring serious depression and anxiety in those who are on the losing end of this battle. On the other hand, winners receive accolades, people's approval and sense of pride.


It is clear that Facebook's success can in part be attributed to it tapping into the human subconsciousness of trying to be better than the person next to them. Facebook gives people the tool to do so. Virtually every single action a user takes on Facebook is involved in a virtual "popularity contest" that the user gets sucked into and participates in. Whether this was Marc's Zuckerberg original design or came about by accident, it's enabled the company to become a global phenomenon on the world stage.