Social Media When friends become objects

People with strong materialistic values, namely those whose life goals revolve around amassing and increasing capital, use Facebook more frequently and engage more deeply with it than others. They objectify their Facebook friends and gain much more from them than users whose life goals are not characterised by materialistic concerns to the same extent.

Materialism 2.0

This are the results of an online survey completed by 531 people by psychologists of the RUB. The researchers asked how often and in what way the participants use Facebook: do they post photos? Do they comment? How many friends do they have and how do they regard those friends? Moreover, they identified certain personality traits, i.e. the participants’ values and life goals.

“On Facebook, a materialism 2.0 of sorts is taking place,” says Phillip Ozimek. “The platform makes it very easy to compare yourself to others, which is why it strongly attracts materialistic people for whom such comparisons are important. Plus, Facebook is free of charge. Materialists love that.”