The Internet is a vast and wild place. It’s fantastic what you can find – both amazingly good, amazingly bad, and the vast swamp of “somewhere in between”. Others have talked about the Internet as an edifice before – how it started, and why it exists in the form that it does now – so I want to bypass that. Instead, I want to talk about what I’ve been thinking about for the last few days: Why do people post things on the Internet?
Now obviously, since people first began creating content they’ve wanted to share it with others. The question is not “why do people share what they create”, but “why do they share on the Internet”. I’ve broken it down into ten different reasons I perceive as the main motivations people have for putting content on the Internet.
1. To get attention
Life is about relationships, and frankly, most people like getting attention. Attention, good or bad, can be found through the Internet – albeit in a distant, not-in-your-space, easy-to-ignore way. Individuals might post pictures of themselves and fish for compliments, or write a blog about their life, or talk about how they feel lonely or suicidal. Sometimes people want attention, as in the case with the pictures – and sometimes people genuinely need it, as in the case of those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts.
2. Everyone else is doing it
People like to be part of groups that believe what they believe and like what they like. Social networking sites are where most people have their primary Internet presence because social networking sites are where most people have their primary Internet presence. As in the case of MySpace, people migrate from system to system – not because the system is deeply flawed, but because they follow the flow of their peers. As far as many people are concerned, if you’re not on the Internet, you may as well not exist.
3. As a personal discipline
A lot of artists, writers, and creators work best when they are getting some kind of feedback. It’s hard to sit down day after day and write without seeing any kind of result or response. A lot of people who have blogs or webcomics or podcasts or video blogs have accountability with posting on the Internet regularly – if they miss a post or a video, their audience will be unhappy. This can help people and hurt people – if you work best by meeting people’s expectations this can be great, but if you create content to make yourself happy it can be a killer.
4. Catharsis
There are a lot of people in pain out there, and they create as a means of dealing with their pain. Posting their content on the web can be an additional outlet for people who are struggling. It can also be a way to vent anger or irritation in a forum where there are no personal consequences.
5. To stay connected with others
Have you ever heard of a little thing called Facebook? Yeah, there it is. If you’re on it, great! If not, why the heck not? Everyone else is doing it, and it makes it a lot easier for other people to stalk- er, keep up with you. See also: Twitter, Google+, DeviantArt, LinkedIn, MySpace, LiveJournal, tumblr., and any of a myriad of other social networking sites. It’s great because you can keep up with events happening in others’ lives, like a high school friend’s out-of-town wedding – but it can also be kind of stupid when you read your second cousin once-removed’s tweet about how delicious her burrito is.
6. To pass the time
Accessing the Internet is easy – it’s something to do any time, open at all hours. Most Americans have it in their homes, and it takes little to no effort to plonk your behind down in a chair and poke around for a while. There are sites out there that make creating content point-and-click easy, so it takes only seconds to make something that you can then instantaneously share with others. Probably the best example of this is icanhascheezburger, the original source for lolcats – just pick a picture, add a caption, and vÍola! You’ve added content to the Internet! There is no recognition for work done (except for a screen name discreetly listed) but merely enjoyment of the masses, somewhat stymied by moderators who sift the submissions. A more infamous site is 4chan, where people can submit anything anonymously, and the popular My Life Is Average where people talk about how normal their lives are. Whoop, it’s three in the morning – what just happened?! Welcome to the Internet.
7. To troll others
Some people get their kicks from making other people upset. These internet trolls purposefully set out to irritate, confuse, anger, trick, and bother others, and then sit back and chortle with glee at the thought of all the minds they are scarring. Yet, since many trolls simply post links to content that already exists elsewhere on the Internet, merely giving it a different title, one could argue that someone, somewhere, could appreciate their posts – if for no other reason than that there must be an audience for it on the Internet, since it was already there. Trolls that actually create content – such as making “straw man” arguments to rile up people on forums, or who purposefully ask idiotic questions on public message boards, actually can show a streak of creativity in plumbing the depths of human stupidity. So for all the ire that they create, perhaps trolls actually have some function after all. Maybe.
8. Because someone else asked them to
This reason is almost entirely linked with another of the other reasons. If there’s a person that’s creating good content that has no interest or desire to be on the Internet, they may be asked by a family member/friend/boss/coworker/etc. to share their content on the Internet. People who do this are refreshingly indifferent about what people think about their content, since it wasn’t their idea to post it in the first place, and they’re just getting on with their lives as normal. This usually only happens with people who make really good content, since they’re effectively being scouted for what they’re already doing – or people like Yogi Berra who are just too hilarious to not quote.
9. To make money
Practically every large company and most of the small ones have their own website. People use the Internet as a resource to find shops, restaurants, movie theaters, live shows, activities, and a plethora of other things, so having an online presence that points people to your physical location can be a big moneymaker. Individuals can also make buco bucks through selling their goods or services on the Internet, either through having their own website or through platforms like eBay or Etsy. Since the Internet is an easy way to disseminate information, it’s a great option for people who don’t have a budget for advertising or who make all their content themselves; they can promote and sell their products in a way that cuts out the middleman. After all, everyone’s got to pay the bills.
10. Because it’s genuinely good and people would enjoy it
A lot of the content on the Internet is boring, drivel, boring drivel, or meh. The problem with the ease of posting content on the Internet is that there is very little incentive for content creators to self-edit. Everything goes out there, the bad with the good, without the benefit of an editor’s feedback. Editors are not in and of themselves the best people to judge all things, but often providing a second rational person a vote in whether something would get put out there would eliminate a huge portion of pointless posting, and almost all YouTube comments. However, there are the shining examples of people who are original content creators that make genuinely good, considered, well-thought-out, funny, beautiful, worthwhile content. These people post because their posting would benefit others, and are an example to us all. That is, of course, assuming that benefitting others is why you would post content.
None of these reasons for posting on the Internet are inherently good or bad. Every person carries their own bias of what they do or do not like and why something is legitimate or not. It is interesting to note, however, that there is a lot of very mediocre content on the Internet, and everyone might benefit from asking themselves before they post anything, “Why am I posting this?” If you get an answer you don’t like, you may want to reconsider. However, don’t let me tell you what to do – everyone can contribute in the way that they like. The Internet is a reflection of its users more than anything else! You, as a user, shape the Internet – whether in creating your own content or responding to others’.