Social Competition in the Facebook Age: An Eyewitness Perspective

Over the last decade, Facebook has revolutionized the ways in which we interact, attracting over a billion active users and, in doing so, taking advantage of the innate human tendency towards increased social competition.
JOSE ! OS"#O$ % O&" '( ')*(, **+,, E"

I'D BE !I"# if - claimed that my life didn't significantly change after - .oined Facebook.
"he year was '))/, freshman year of high school was approaching, and some pretty drastic changes were looming ahead. 0t school, a completely new social dynamic awaited me, complete with unfamiliar classmates, different cli1ues, and the newfound pressure to fit in. 0s someone whose choice self2descriptive ad.ective is 3laid2back,4 - was a bit an5ious

about where my place in this new social environment would be. 0t the same time, - was e5cited. !igh school was a chance to redefine myself and mature socially. Succeeding at this, however, would mean finding some way to stand out among *()) likeminded others, and would undoubtedly involve some pretty risky interpersonal maneuvers. -t would be competitive. "he naturally outgoing ones would do .ust fine, but everyone else, including myself, would have to find their own way. "hen, in 0ugust before school started, - began to receive a lot of automated invitations through 0-6, the dominant instant messaging platform at the time. "hey were from a bunch of different people on my 3buddy list,4 all wanting to be 3friends4 through a site called 3Facebook.4 For a while - wrote it off as spam, as .ust another internet fad. "hen, one friend on 0-6 actually started a conversation with me with the sole intent of persuading me to .oin Facebook. -t was that important to him. So - signed up. - reasoned that it couldn7t hurt to see what all the hype was on, and besides, maybe - could gain an edge in the upcoming social strategy game that was the start of freshman year. 0t first - wasn7t convinced, though - did start to notice a surprising number of ac1uaintances already on Facebook. &learly it wasn7t .ust limited to the technologically savvy types. "hen they started to add me as 3friends,4 so - added them back. -t was nice to be validated in this way, and some of the social pressure - was feeling subsided. 6ost of it remained, however, because after all, it wasn7t as if a virtual world like Facebook could genuinely benefit me in the real world. -n a few weeks, however, after school started, found myself on the Facebook more and more. 0dding friends, updating my profile, and writing on other people7s 3walls4 began to take up a significant amount of my time. 0nd wasn7t alone. "he virtual network - had stumbled upon gradually became an online home2 base for more and more people to interact. 0s - watched my new, virtual high school assemble on my computer screen, - felt more comfortable within the real high school that went to everyday. 6aybe spending time on Facebook was .ustified, - began to think, maybe it could make a legitimate difference in my social life. - suppose - had always had a mental representation of the interactions between people knew, but on Facebook - could see these interactions play out in front of me, in real time. 8erkley !igh School7s Facebook network 1uickly became a parallel cyber2universe of sorts, but with all public connections documented and recorded. 6ore and more interacting migrated to Facebook as its prominence increased. -nteracting online was both more convenient than doing so face2to2face, and also allowed for more careful construction of dialogue, .ust like on 0-6, or even te5ting. 8ut the aspect of community on Facebook took this to the ne5t level. -nstead of interactions being purely conversational like in instant messaging, Facebook became an e5tension of people7s lives. 6any of my friends 1uickly embraced this, posting statuses of their every social outing, vacation, and meal, along with pictures to back it up. - noticed a trend crop up+ people were willing to compromise privacy if it meant increased e5posure and validation, especially from people that they were less likely to interact with outside of Facebook. 0nd each new status update meant another chance to gain a form of social capital in the form of comments, wall posts or

3likes.4 "hese incentives in turn were e5plicitly recorded and relayed to the user in the form of 3notifications,4 which were tallied and promoted as a little red number upon every login. Facebook had effectively boiled our social e5perience down into bits of 1uantitative data, and - logged in everyday secretly hoping for a higher number. $e all did. 0nd this need for affirmation of a higher social standing kept us coming back.

SI$ !EA%S A&E%, Facebook amazingly continues to dominate social media, despite the
rise of other platforms and a rapidly changing demographic and technological landscape. $hile my high school was building a community on Facebook, so were thousands of other educational institutions in the world. 0nd as people in each of those communities became increasingly dependent on Facebook for daily interaction, Facebook communities in themselves became self2sustaining. For e5ample, my high school class hasn7t been all together under the same roof in three years. 9et the 8erkley !igh School &lass of ')** network still e5ists on Facebook, and people still use it as a way to maintain connections that otherwise would have fizzled out. Similarly, Facebook allows for novel connections through networks that never have had any basis in the real world, such as full college classes, like :niversity of 6ichigan &lass of ')*,. "hough any individual only knows a small minority of this community outside of Facebook, the community in its entirety is routinely active on Facebook, even if in surface2level activities like selling books or tickets. ;espite the fact that purely Facebook relationships are inherently weaker, they still contribute to furthering the level of connectedness of our world. -n order to adapt to the increased connectedness that it fosters, Facebook has undergone numerous makeovers and feature additions. -t has incorporated an instant messaging tool and fused it with the e5isting messaging feature, largely rendering other instant messaging tools obsolete. -t has streamlined its 3newsfeed4 to ensure that people stay informed about what is most important in the daily lives of their friends. 6ostly notably, Facebook has accomplished these goals by targeting and perfecting the features that reward increased activity and reinforce high social standing<, essentially the things that make people want to come back. -n the past, an individual7s social standing was merely an abstract concept reinforced by hierarchical placement in a society, living standards, and interactions with others. 0lthough there were numerous sources of evidence to calculate social standing in everyday life, populations at large never had a definitive way to measure it. =ow they do. Facebook changes that by e5ploiting our competitive hardwiring and shifting the value that we place on the 1uality of our interactions to the 1uantification of them.

C'(PE&I&I'") I" A" evolutionary sense, is a double2edged sword. On one hand, it is a

driving forced behind adaptation and continuing evolution. -n a social media conte5t, Facebook facilitates novel ways of multitasking and increasing productivity. -nstant messaging, group chats, event planning, and news sharing can all be done simultaneously on the site and are integrated in the same place. -t has become a staple in every educational, marketing, and entertainment setting, and has paved the way for the mainstream use of other, more specialized social network sites, like "witter and >inked-n. "he minimal technological re1uirements needed to .oin permits incredible interconnection

of people throughout the world. -t may seem like these advances would only make us more social creatures, but do they really? -n classifying biological relationships, competition is notorious because unlike other relationships such as mutualism, which results in gains for both parties, and even parasitism, in which one organism gains while the other loses, competition is the relationship in which both parties lose. "his is because a single, limited resource is at stake and compromise of this resource results in each party receiving less than they re1uire, a.k.a. a loss in biological terms. -n social conte5ts, this concept becomes more abstract, primarily because the resources desired are not concrete @like food or waterA and our desires for them are not entirely fi5ed. !owever, one resource that is in high demand in the real world and on Facebook is the attention of others. "hat being said, humans in non2 virtual settings aren7t always locked in fierce competition< in fact, we often cooperate in order to ma5imize success for one another. On Facebook this changes, because more focus is devoted to the aforementioned 1uantification of our social interactions. 0t our very base level, we see numbers that define our social standing, and we want to make those numbers bigger because they will provide the most immediate gain. -t is important to note that competition on Facebook is not black and white. -n fact, Facebook users @myself includedA most often gain pleasure from short2term bouts in the competitive environment of Facebook, visiting our profiles and interacting with friends. Studies show that the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is responsible for pleasurable sensations and often released following drug use, is released after Facebook sessions. 0fter all, it is likely that we continue to return to Facebook in pursuance of this dopamine release. 8ased on this claim, the 3addiction4 to Facebook that many young people report may not be so far off. -n accordance with this, a recent study form the :niversity of 6ichigan also shows that over a two week period, increased time spent on Facebook resulted in decreased levels of satisfaction, regardless of social network size.. 6ore corroboration of these results is needed, but it seems as if winning a competitive battle here and there is uplifting, but the big picture ultimately results in a net loss. "oday, Facebook is still a ma.or player in social interactions. 0lthough its user growth rate has been slowing recently, there is no foreseeable end to its presence in our social lives B we simply have too much invested in it. "he positive aspects of Facebook are clear+ they facilitate and maintain connections, and allow us to be more productive in an increasingly face2paced environment. On the other hand, too much reliance on Facebook can dilute our perception of interactions, replacing 1uality with 1uality. >ike most technological developments, the key is moderation< balancing time on Facebook with real social e5periences. Social competition will continue to e5ist no matter what sphere we spend time in, and plays a ma.or role in the advancement of our personal growth and our growth as communities. 8ack in high school, - was an5ious about not knowing enough about the community of which - was going to be a member. =ow, with Facebook, - often am bombarded with to0 much information, and have to filter which updates - see to avoid being overloaded. -n the end, however, - would rather have the option than not know at

all. -n changing the dynamics of social competition, Facebook truly has changed the way in which - interact socially, and this change e5tends beyond .ust the numbers.

$orks &ited C&onnect with Friends and the $orld around 9ou on Facebook.C Facebook. =.p., n.d. $eb. '( Oct. ')*(. Facebook was act*ally my primary so*rce in researching +or this paper, I went on Facebook each time I wante- to s*pport my arg*ments with e.amples o+ how Facebook *ses /*anti+ication to attract *sers 0ironically I +o*n- mysel+ getting -istracte- more o+ten than normal1, C;opamine Jolt 8ehind -nternet 0ddiction.C FT.com. "he Financial "imes, ( Jan. ')*(. $eb. *D Oct. ')*(. &his article provi-e- a re+erence +or the st*-y that shows short term Facebook can have a pleas*rable e++ect on people, I *se this as biological evi-ence to +or why people +in- themselves 2a--icte-3 to Facebook, -saac, 6ike, and 8eth &allaghan. CFacebookEs ;eclining :ser Frowth #ate, ictured.CAllThingsD. =.p., ( 6ay ')*(. $eb. '( Oct. ')*(. Altho*gh this article was short) I nee-e- a cre-ible so*rce to s*pport the +act that Facebook growth rates were -eclining, &his tie- into my concl*sion, !u, Elise. CFacebook 6akes :s Sadder 0nd >ess Satisfied, Study Finds.C NPR. = #, ') 0ug. ')*(. $eb. '( Oct. ')*(. &his article playe- a key role in my mention o+ the negative e++ects o+ the social competition on Facebook, It provi-es evi-ence 0altho*gh not +rom a very large sample si4e1 that shows people who *se- Facebook more over a two week periowere more likely to report -issatis+action, Gross, Ethan, and Et 0l. CFacebook :se redicts ;eclines in Sub.ective $ell28eing in 9oung 0

dults.C PLOS ONE @')*(A+ n. pag. PLOS ONE:. -nstitut luridisciplinaire !ubert &urien, *H 0ug. ')*(. $eb. '( Oct. ')*(. &his was the primary so*rce to which the above article linke-, It gives act*al +ig*res to s*pport its claims) rather than s*mmari4ing them like the secon-ary so*rce, Smith, #obert !. @February *DIJA. CEcology writ largeC. Nat !e 567 @J),JA+ I)D. doi+*).*)(IK(*DI)Db). C0ll ecology teachers and students would do well to sample this no "elle c isine.C &his is the so*rce that I re+erre- to in my initial mention o+ competition as a biological term, It was important beca*se it provi-e- the starting point to tie the biological -e+inition o+ competition to the social -e+inition, =ote+ "he drafting process for this essay was long, mainly because it started off addressing such a broad topic. Since - wrote the original blog, - had been thinking about the phenomenon of 1uantification as a tool that online mediums use to attract users. "his seemed like a promising topic to address in this essay, and it was, but - realized that if - was to e5plore it more in depth, - would have to write far more than would be necessary. 0lternatively, could narrow my topic, which is what - chose to do. 0fter my first draft, in which - tried to connect how social media websites like Facebook and "witter use 1uantitative data with how educational websites use it, - received feedback from you that it was too much like two separate essays. 0fterwards, - tried to connect them by focusing on 1uantification as my central argument and using social media and educational websites as e5amples, rather than the main focus @something my peers suggestedA. - 1uickly realized that there was .ust too much to include. "his led to my current draft, in which - .ust narrowed it down to Facebook. E5amining 1uantification was also challenging, because it was such an abstract concept and could be applied to so many different areas. For this reason, - grouped it with a broader social phenomenon, social competition, and went on to talk about how Facebook e5ploits this human trait. - am satisfied with the progress - have made in this final draft because- was able to take a broad idea that - had been thinking about and alter it in a way that was sufficiently specific, relatable, and applicable to current research.