How and Why Do We Use Our Identities
On any social media site, there is a description section, asking the user for their information and their identity. Most users happily oblige, even though they do not have to. They click on the boxes asking which types of music, sports, or movies they like, list their favourite books and describe their workplaces.
Why? Because talking about ourselves feels good. In conversations, roughly 60% of material is about the speaker. Online, that number jumps to 80% (Ward, Adrian F. The Neuroscience of Everybody's Favorite Topic). Talking about ourselves feels good, because it’s a way of connecting with our identities.
People spend huge amounts of time thinking and talking about themselves. Over time people learn to categorize and label themselves.
“I am a geek”
“I am good at talking to people”
“I am a punk rocker”
Why? Because talking about ourselves feels good. In conversations, roughly 60% of material is about the speaker. Online, that number jumps to 80% (Ward, Adrian F. The Neuroscience of Everybody's Favorite Topic). Talking about ourselves feels good, because it’s a way of connecting with our identities.
People spend huge amounts of time thinking and talking about themselves. Over time people learn to categorize and label themselves.
“I am a geek”
“I am good at talking to people”
“I am a punk rocker”
So we tell others who we are, and they tell us who they are and if there are shared interests and beliefs, we’ve found someone with whom we can build a connection or a friendship. We analyze and advertise our identities so we can find others like us. This way we can find more things we like, and associate with people who are similar.