this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2024
56 points (87.8% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27268 readers
2003 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Yes, it kind of is hypocritical to ask this on a social media platform, but what do you guys get out of it?

top 32 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 49 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

"Look at this cool thing I found!" It can just be nice to share stuff with other people. There doesn't need to be a deeper reason, it's a function of humans being social animals.

This includes motivations such as wanting to discuss the thing with other people, to compare your own view with theirs, or simply to satisfy the need to yell at someone.

Edit: typo

[–] Octospider@lemm.ee 36 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The first word in social media is "social". People typically post on social media because they want to socialize in one way or another.

[–] Curious_Canid@lemmy.ca 12 points 4 days ago

Exactly. It's the same as the answer to the question, "Why do you talk to people?"

[–] treadful@lemmy.zip 12 points 4 days ago

When I share, I'm trying to pay it back. Some of you jabronies shared some cool things with me that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. So the least I can do is try and do the same.

And if everyone did this, Lemmy would be flush with content.

[–] Zexks@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago

“Why do people talk to other people”

[–] Vanth@reddthat.com 19 points 4 days ago

Many reasons. Searching for opinions and perspectives like you seem to be here. Searching for information and recommendations to resources. Sharing interesting things with friends and family.

[–] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 17 points 4 days ago

Dopamine. Affirmation. Attention.

Although I don’t share that much on social media anymore.

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I'm a performing artist. The stuff I share promotes causes I enjoy, keeps me relevant in an ever expanding scene, and helps get the word out for local shows and events.

Also a lot of shitposting. Mostly shitposting.

[–] AnAustralianPhotographer@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

"Be the reason someone smiles today". ,.. and I need to gou out and touch some grass and take some more photos soon. I wanted to largely post pics of things people don't normally see and hope they go 'cool, that's a nice shot, might make it my wallpaper". Edit: I did get out, and saw some birds. https://lemmy.world/post/23520196

[–] GhiLA@sh.itjust.works 13 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I've been shitposting and talking to other anonymous people online since 1999.

UBB anime boards

Somethingawful

4chan

Reddit

and now, I dance the babushka, for you!

And now, I find myself home to Lemmy. Just one of the thousands of Anons posting opinion, then meme, then opinion, then shitpost in the background static of the greater internet hive mind.

Arguments, rebukes, comments, discussions... discourse. It's all necessary to me. I have to get in the fray. I have to cause the fray, in some instances. Discussion is life, passion in many instances. People care about what they care about and I both want to know why and tell why.

[–] RedditRefugee69@lemmynsfw.com 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's not so much hypocritical of you to ask this question as it is you lack introspection.

People share things on social media to have interaction with other people, just like you did.

[–] ZkhqrD5o@lemmy.world 0 points 4 days ago

I never really used social media, since I was deterred by the contagious cancer that Instagram/TikTok/etc. because of their algos, corporations and bots are. Thanks to Lemmy being different, I thought it would be time to start understanding this.

[–] pdxfed@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

Ego (in the broad, classic sense of our need to have self identity) and--increasingly--loneliness due to the husk of societal interactions many developed nations have let wither due to overwork, TV and privatization of public spaces.

[–] Sixtyforce@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 days ago

I find like-minded people who don't exist locally.

[–] Nemo@slrpnk.net 10 points 4 days ago

Mostly, to bring my friends joy.

Sometimes, to see if anyone is willing to discuss the thing I'm sharing with me.

[–] Chaos0f7ife@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

For social recognition. I would not post something on the internet if I didn't expect someone else to see it.

[–] MelonYellow@lemmy.ca 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

For me, it's nice to share information and have light, friendly interactions. I don't care for engaging in online conflicts or debates. That kind of stuff adds unnecessary stress to my life that I don't want.

As far as SM with my real identity, like IG: It's nice updating friends and family about life events. Sometimes I post silly things. Stuff like engagement doesn't bother me bc it's not about having a popularity contest.

But in particular, I like posting highlights as they happen throughout the year. My memory (for dates, especially!) isn't that great, so this lets me scroll through in chronological order and quickly see what I've been up to. It's sort of like keeping a picture diary.

[–] cabbage@piefed.social 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Do you find Instagram is still working well for you for this purpose?

I signed up due to popular pressure at some point, and in the beginning the chronological feed was very nice. I would use it maybe once a week or less, and like the stuff my friends had posted since last time.

Then over time, my friends' content started drowning in I don't even know what. Sometimes I would see a post or two, but I would never see everything they had posted since last time. It just didn't work as a platform to use for consuming a finite amount of content.

I ended up abandoning ship. But it sucks a bit, as my friends might still be on there posting things I would have been happy to see.

[–] MelonYellow@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Yeah I agree the home feed sucks now, for chronological purposes. It used to be better. But what I do is I favorite (star?) close friends/family so that it gives me a notification whenever they post something. For everyone else, I might miss their updates especially since I don't spend forever on there...

[–] cabbage@piefed.social 1 points 4 days ago

That's a bit convoluted, but glad you found a workaround!

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 7 points 4 days ago

Because social media will usually allow us to contact other people with similar niche interests, people that we'd be hard pressed to find IRL

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 9 points 4 days ago

I love to read and I love tellign people about obscure/underrated authors.

I've been heralding Tanith Lee for decades. Writers like Neil Gaiman and Poppy Z. Brite are pale imitations of the original.

Ross Thomas. Washington reporter turned crime novelist. "The Porkchoppers" is about a Nixon Era Union election. Dozens of characters, ranging from DC power brokers to street level fixers, are all trying to cash in.

Dan Fesperman. Best new spy novels.

[–] cabbage@piefed.social 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think commercial social media is literally ruining the world. I decided to be active on here to give alternative platforms legs to walk on. Every single post and comment here makes a significant contribution to stick it to the man - it's a slightly more viable alternative with every user. Well, maybe except the assholes.

On Mastodon, I post for professional self promotion/reach. Taxpayers pay me to write stuff, so I owe it to them to try to communicate it back in open channels.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

Commercial social media isn't social, it is just another content delivery system.

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 4 points 4 days ago

idk I'm mostly here for the memes

Its safer to say "FUCK [Insert Name of Politician]" online than irl...

well don't post it on an account with your name attached, but you know what I mean...

[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 6 points 4 days ago

It's very human to want interaction with other humans, we're a social species.

In the case of social media the protocol is a little different than in 1-1 interactions. Everyone broadcasts their thoughts, and reacts to the thoughts of others, also in the form of a broadcast. It's no more or less valid than other communications contexts. And not new either, technology just made it more efficient and available to everyone.

[–] dsilverz@thelemmy.club 3 points 4 days ago

Sometimes I ask myself the same question when I share things just to be faced with my own feelings of purposelessness. I mean, the purpose should be sharing it to other people that'd be interested in the content, but the Dead Internet Theory has long been far from a mere theory. The insane amounts of bots and spam led people to rely on some kind of "web of trust", "web ring", etc. It was needed because it's never possible to know beforehand if a new profile will be spam/bot. And it seems good to find only what (should) fit our interests, following only people that you know whom produces good content. However, this behavior has a big downside, it rules out potentially interesting content from unknown people, which leads to the impossibility of hear and being heard, which leads to segregation, which leads to digital echo chambers. So, in such a web, friendless people, for example, inevitably fall into oblivion as they watch their content being filtered out because spam and bots needs to be filtered out.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 4 points 4 days ago

I just like to argue with randos on the internet (as long as they'll argue back in good faith). Or debate might be a better word Idk. I also believe most people have a lot to learn from interacting with other viewpoints, and personally have learned a ton compared to when I first discovered the English-speaking internet because I stuck to this philosophy so I have no intention to stop now.

[–] Free_Opinions@feddit.uk 4 points 4 days ago

I tend to be painfully aware of my underlaying motives when ever I'm about to post something and it's almost always some form of bragging so I refrain from posting it. If it's not something I'd like to see on my own feed I don't post it for others either.

there is a pretty big difference between anonymous and nonanonymous social media. this is technically no different than a newsgroup or bbs so if its social media you can say social media has been around since the internet and before www. Anyway it depends on the platform and the person. some are looking to influence, some are looking for recognition, some are looking for validation, some are looking for information, some are looking to just fuck around.

[–] redditistrash@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I used to post on reddit only to troll shitty people Honestly, as time goes on, the less I feel the need to post anything. I realized most things on the internet are garbage.