What’s the Psychology that Makes Twitter so Popular?
Please note this is a Guest Post from Stephen Richard’s a prominent young student at California University- his views are entirely his own and may not reflect the views of Webdoctus.com.
Since Twitter exploded into the micro-blogging world, psychologists have taken a look at what has made the site so popular. Just what is it that holds such appeal for thousands around the world?
The simple answer is Ego. We like to be noticed and we like to be liked. Twitter gives us a chance to be recognized, if only by our selves. “I Tweet therefore I am”. While this is natural human behavior, taken to the extreme it can be damaging. The worst scenario would be a person who becomes so dependent on how many followers they have on Twitter that losing (or not gaining) the followers they want could lead to depression and even suicide.
Using the model of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Twitter sits nicely at the top of the Pyramid. It fulfills our need to socialize and integrate with others. The desire to be part of a community is a strong one indeed, once all other basic needs have been fulfilled. In days gone by this need was often fulfilled by the extended family, church and sports groups and neighbors. People are supposedly happiest when supported by a network group of around 60-80 others. Interestingly enough many people now feel safer in the global community of the internet than they do with their next door neighbors. Wanting to be part of a group of 60-80 has grown to the extent of following or being followed by 100-2000 others.
On a personal level, as opposed to the business model, the desire to collect followers on Twitter feeds the narcissistic (self-loving) element in us. For those using Twitter the collecting of followers is based more on the idea of gaining a customer or client base, but there is still often an element of ego involved.
For many Twitter users, the actual conversation involved means very little. The point is that it simply feels good to think that 1,000 or so followers are (supposedly) interested in following their day to day activities and thoughts.
The other thing Twitter does for many people is give the ability to be an instant voyeur. We can follow along with others lives and discover their personalities becoming involved as little or as much as desired. This doesn’t mean everyone on Twitter is a perverted peeping Tom of course; simply that again it feeds on human curiosity.
Another element that hooks people into Twitter is the need to stay tuned in so as not to miss anything. Twittering is a conversation that has no end. In face to face conversations or on the phone we start, discuss and finish a conversation. In Twitter there is no real closure so people need to come back for more. The addition of a reward system built into Twitter also keeps people tuned in and participating more.
Whether we consider it a positive or a negative phenomenon, there is no doubt that Twitter has been able to at least offer to provide and feed natural human social needs. It is probably this more than anything else that makes Twitter and the act of twittering so inviting.
4 Responses to “What’s the Psychology that Makes Twitter so Popular?”
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This is some really information, I just wrapped up my paper for school and think i may need to bookmark or save this for the second class lol. You may have just made me a regular
I have been a reader for a long while, but this is my first time as a commenter. I just wanted to say that this has been / is my favorite post of yours! Keep up the good work and I’ll keep on checking back. If you’d be interested in swapping blogroll links with me, my website is MonaVie Scam.