The Psychology of Why People Share on Social Media

The insights include a breakdown by generation and could support your marketing outreach.

Written by Mark Walker-Ford, via Social Media Today

Are you looking for ways to improve your social media content? Want to understand the basics of why and what people share?

The team from Haiilo (formerly Smarp) share their insights into social media psychology in this infographic.

Here’s a quick summary:

• The Psychology of Social Sharing: 5 Reasons People Share

• What People Share on Social Media: The Content Matrix

• The Generational Social Media Gap: What Different Age Groups Share

- The Psychology of social sharing: The 5 main motives to share.

1) To bring valuable content to others

2) To define themselves

3) To get and stay connected

4) To self-fulfillment

5) To support causes and brands

- Content Matrix by smart insights: the 4 content categories.

1) Entertaining

2) Inspiring

3) Educational

4) Convincing

- Generation social media gap: differing topics and times of consumption.

• Baby Boomers:

  Topic: World News

  Time: 5 AM - 12 PM

• Gen Xers

  Topic: Healthy Living

  Time: 8 PM - 12 AM

• Millennials

  Topic: Technology

  Time: 8 PM - 12 AM