The internet and the masses

I'm writing this article because it seems to be the all the buzz these days and I don't understand why.  Why is it that social networking sites exist and what is it about them that draws in hundreds of millions of people to sign up and use them?  Of course this is the million dollar question.  If I could answer it, I probably would be a billionaire by now and WebGUI would have every feature anyone's ever requested.  Alas, I don't have the answer and well WebGUI is still in constant development.  But my questions still remain.  Not for the economics per se, but for the simple fact that I can't stand the sites myself.  I've never had a MySpace page.  You can't even look at Facebook without an account so my usage there is minimal.  And I definitely don't Twitter.  I can only assume I'm in the minority with my dislike for such sites since companies such as Dell are moving some recruitment resources to Facebook and even the CIA has been using it.  Their use still doesn't explain what draws so many average people use it. 

I've asked my wife an avid Facebooker (I'm trademarking that word), why she uses it.  The answer I received is that it lets her see what's going on with other people she knows and that it's easier than emailing.  Seems reasonable.  Except when you think about what people put on their Facebook accounts.  Things such as “clipping toenails” and “walking the dog” are Facebook “Status” staples.  Why do I care that you're walking your dog or clipping your toenails.  I don't.  So then that doesn't seem to be the real reason why people use Facebook.  

I've read enough to know that some people use MySpace as a way to show off their music/art.  So it seems that MySpace could be a way for people to “get themselves out there”.  But there are plenty of sites out there looking for undiscovered talent.  So again, that doesn't seem to be the reason why everyone is doing it, since that's only a small percentage of the people using MySpace anyway.  

After thinking it through it seems to come down to the reason why “Reality TV” is so popular as well.  People are nosey and long for celebrity.  Why else would anyone watch or want to be on a show such as Big Brother.  The only answer is because they're curious as to what everyone else is doing.  Are their little idiosyncrasies specific to them or are there other people in the world who: won't eat chocolate on Tuesday's when the moon is full.  And the reason people are on these shows is because they think these little idiosyncrasies are what's going to make them famous. 

The parallels between these two mediums is quite astounding when you get down to brass tacks.  I want to carve out my little piece of the virtual world in hopes that enough people like me to make me famous, and I need to know that only eating chocolate on Tuesday's when the moon is full is really an OK thing.  For these two reasons it seems there will forever be Social Networking sites.  It may come in different forms and people may develop different reasons to communicate, but really it comes down the voyeristic nature of our society and that everyone wants to be famous.  Or it could be that I'm just too cynical and knowing that my friend is clipping their toenails brings me a little closer to them in an otherwise distanced world.