9 Real Reasons You Are On Social Media But Won’t Admit To

If you don’t have a presence in any of the various social media networks, what have you been up to the last decade?

There are actually some pretty good reasons to avoid social media. But these days, it’s almost unheard of to run into someone who doesn’t have either a Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube account. Even Android, which is the most widely used smart phone operating system requires you to have a Google account in order to fully utilize it.

Most people would probably say that the reason they are on social media is to keep in touch with friends.

But really… that’s just a textbook answer that’s meant for politicians.

Because the truth can be embarrassing to admit.

I won’t tell anyone… but the real reasons you are on social media is probably…

1) You can spy on people

Sometimes just calling someone up to ask what she has been doing the last couple of months can be awkward. Even though a friend will understand your good intentions of catching up. It can still trigger that awkward silence ad make you look like a person so lonely that you are reaching out like a kitten trapped in a pipe.

So to avoid that social dynamic being played out, most people would just find it easier to satisfy their curiosity of what others have been up to by just stalking their social profiles.

Saying that, there are 3 main categories of people you’d want to spy on:

1. Friends and people you know
2. People you recognize but are not really your friends
3. People you don’t know but want to know

If you are checking out whether that hunky guy in the office is single, just be smart about your spying and not leave any traces of what you have been up to.

2) You want friends to know you have a life

When all your friends are competing with each other with who has the most landmark check-ins all over the world, it’s not a shame to admit that you feel a little pressure to chalk up some of your own travel check-ins too.

And whenever you fire up your news feed to be greeted by pictures of friends dining in fancy restaurants and frolicking in the clear waters of a coastal resort, it’s only natural for you to feel an instinct of telling the world you have an outgoing life too… by posting your own leisure wealfies.

3) You simply want to be heard

Human beings have an innate need to be heard. The best example of people feeling no need to imprison this need is your chatty uncle who always talks about life’s philosophies even when you are just having a casual conversation.

We all have ideas and life rules that shape our personalities. And usually, we feel that our way of thinking is the “correct” way of life… and want others to agree with it…

Don’t ask me why. But I know this to be true.

So it is no surprise that many of those who have “figured it out” will want others to see how they view the world through the opinionated comments they make and pictures they share.

It’s all an attempt to be heard by whoever willing to hear.

And yes. I know you want people to “like” your posts…

4) You want people to envy you

Why else would you share those photos of high tea in a luxury hotel or check-in at an international airport (even when you are just in transit) other than to show-off?

Again… there’s no need to be defensive and start the denial engine.

You might not even be self-aware enough to realize it. But posting your luxurious selfies for everyone to see on the pretense of “sharing your happiness” has a hidden agenda of bragging… and igniting envy in your friends.

In the new world, there is actually a word for this attention-seeking behavior: humble-brag

5) Social pressure

When everyone is on social media, it truly takes a strong individualistic mind not to get on it even if your logical mind tells you to avoid it.

But when everyone around a table are swiping their smart phones instead of chatting the old fashioned way, and using instant messenger to interact with someone who is sitting just across the table, you may really have no choice but to sign up for an account or face the prospect of being left out from the social group.

You might very well be wary of how being on social media can nurture a bad habit.

But what else you can do… when everyone is living their lives on it…

6) You secretly wish to become virally famous one day

There’s no bigger dream than to be known throughout the world, or just within the compounds of your home country.

Other than the obvious factor of vanity, having something go viral or becoming recognized can have huge financial benefits. It can pretty much change your life.

Let’s just take an obvious example to illustrate this point – Gangnam Style

For a music recording artist who is virtually unknown outside of Korea, Psy’s catchy track and outrageous video took the world by storm in 2012. Whatever his financial situation was before that viral explosion, he is set for life. The money he is making from the ads in the video alone is rather substantial.

This without counting the appearance and performance fees he collected after becoming a worldwide sensation.

The funny thing is that this can happen to anyone. You don’t need a soulful voice or artistic talent to become a celebrity these days. You never know… one day something you post can go viral and you are set for life.

7) You secretly wish that a celebrity would talk to you one day

There’s nothing more braggable than having a celebrity respond to your harassment (disguised as casual chat).

So much of a trophy has it become to have celebrities sending you a message or a tweet, that I’ve seen bloggers write thousand-word blog posts bragging about it.

Some people even take it further and sell courses on how to get influencers to positively respond on social media. The actual correspondence is then used as a useful testimonial about how their tactics are proven.

In the non-digitized world, it is almost an impossibility to get noticed by a celebrity and get enough attention for them to respond. Having a connection to their Facebook and Twitter accounts just about nonuples your chances no matter how minute that possibility might be.

8) You can say something to someone indirectly

Sometimes it can be really difficult to tell someone how their hair make them resemble a horse or how bad their breathe is that it can be use to bait a dung beetle.

It’s not that you think less of your friends. But you are afraid that they might get the wrong idea if you tell it to their face. You then make a new enemy in the process.

It much easier to share an article about how people “have body odor without realizing they do”, than to tell them straight up about how smelly they are. Hopefully the article you share includes tips on the best products to use to counter it too.

9) You want to be the cool guy in a group of non-geeks

Can you believe that there are people out there selling $100 training courses (and doing well) that teaches others what is social media and how to open an account with them?

I know this for a fact because my mother just attended one of these courses!

No matter how techie you are, don’t be oblivious to the fact that there is still a huge segment of people who are still so scared of technology that they don’t even dare to click a few buttons on a desktop computer.

However on a smaller scale, you could also be among a group who is not at all that internet-savvy. And that promotes you to the position of “cool” just because you are more active and knowledgeable on social media.

If informing someone of a hidden function in Facebook that your friends don’t know exist excites you, you absolutely belong to this group of “cool” people among non-geeks.

In fact, I’d bet that you absolutely thrive on it.

I mean… to be respected by others just for knowing social media (a novelty these days) is the easier road to becoming an authority online and offline.