The Need for "Creeping"

I had a moment a few weeks ago when I was in my communication theory class amidst discussion of social media and its role in uncertainty reduction theory. Some might call this an "aha" moment. I would call it "that moment where the practical intersects with the theoretical" -- where the stuff normally reserved for academics and large, overpriced books finds its way into your life and is suddenly applicable. I finally realized why people engage in this activity we so fondly and aptly label "creeping'" -- that is, "Facebook creeping."

When you consider the "Facebook creeping" phenomenon, the first thought that probably comes to mind is "stalker." The second thought is probably, "Except for me... Because I do it," which is a more accurate observation. Not all who wander around the intricate web that is Facebook are lost. No, no. In fact, more than anything, they are just giving into their intrinsic need to gather information about others. Let me drop some knowledge on ya.

You see, in the context of communication, humans gather information about others (acquaintances, potential love interests, coworkers, etc.) because they seek to reduce uncertainty about those "others", whoever they may be. A certain Mr. Berger developed this concept, which, in a very, very small nutshell, hammers down to the fact that people want to be able to predict the behaviors of others because this enables them to then build a relationship (Littlejohn & Foss, 2011). Once solely confined to face-to-face interactions, the development of the Internet, and subsequently, social media, has led to people venturing online to reduce uncertainty rather than relying on their in-person interactions, observations, and overall questionings.

Facebook, therefore, is the perfect medium on which to pursue this basic need of ours. Between the thousands of photographs, incessant posting, and chat capabilities, Facebook's features end up being an important tool in reducing uncertainty about others. Consider this: you meet a cutie at a bar, have zero mutual friends, and end the night knowing only his/her first and last name. Whether you care to admit it or not, you'll probably look up this bar fly on Facebook (or at least one other social networking site) and immediately sift through his/her interests, photographs, posts, and mutual friend list. You might even resort to Facebook messaging this person and having an online sober chat, much unlike your initial interaction. As you use your sleuth skills, you might ask yourself: Does this person constantly post depressing statuses about how his/her life sucks? Are all of this person's photographs of drunken escapades and borderline inappropriate revelries? Is your single mutual friend that one douchie person you knew from high school? What does that douchie person you knew from high school say about this person? Immediately, we began to create a picture of who this person is, and use this information in order to predict that person's behavior, and ultimately, decide whether to build a relationship with this person, or, in some instances, further a relationship with this person. (Hopefully not, if you actually met a person like this...)

Of course, there will always be the same argument that comes up when we discuss the transition from offline interactions to online interactions: inevitably, things could get lost in translation, be misrepresented, or just ultimately, lack many of the nonverbal forms of communication necessary to more-completely get one's point across -- and these are all valid points. Yet, one could argue (and there is research to back this up) that the overload of information that social media sites (especially Facebook) provides us with sometimes serve to make up for the lack of nonverbal communication or the possibility for misrepresentation.

Regardless, Facebook creepin' is not a perfect science, nor is it anywhere close to being the perfect and single representation of a human being -- especially considering that we humans do not exist solely on our beloved Interwebs. We do exist offline, in real life. However, at least there is some sort of reason behind our inclination to "creep," and maybe next time, we might wear that "creep" badge with pride.

Or not.

References:

Littlejohn, S.W., & Foss, K.A. (2011) The Conversation. In Theories of Human Communication (10th ed.) (pp.180-182). Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.