Do you spend money because of Facebook?

[TheGardener]

"Roughly four in 10 adults with a social media account (39%) say that seeing other people’s purchases and vacations on social media makes them look into a similar purchase or vacation, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Americans released this summer by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants."

http://nypost.com/2016/09/13/facebook-is-making-you-poor-and-insecure/

Never having a facebook account, I can't fully comprehend this. But I do understand that peer pressure exists. Do your cyber "friends" ask you why you haven't traveled to Bora Bora, or why you don't own the latest Apple or Samsung phone? Do you believe you spend money, because you need to keep up with your cyber friends, who use to be referred to as the Jones?

 

[blackangst1]

Nope. But I really dont share much on FB and only have like 15 friends.

 

[pauldun170]

"Roughly four in 10 adults with a social media account (39%) say that seeing other people’s purchases and vacations on social media makes them look into a similar purchase or vacation, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Americans released this summer by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants."

http://nypost.com/2016/09/13/facebook-is-making-you-poor-and-insecure/

Never having a facebook account, I can't fully comprehend this. But I do understand that peer pressure exists. Do your cyber "friends" ask you why you haven't traveled to Bora Bora, or why you don't own the latest Apple or Samsung phone? Do you believe you spend money, because you need to keep up with your cyber friends, who use to be referred to as the Jones?

Roughly four in 10 adults with a social media account (39%) say that seeing other people’s purchases and vacations on social media makes them look into a similar purchase or vacation

remove "social Media"

Roughly four in 10 adults (39%) say that seeing other people’s purchases and vacations makes them look into a similar purchase or vacation

How is this different than any other time or place in history?

 

[MongGrel]

I haven't looked at FB in probably 6 months, why not make an account and ask them there ?

The wife went to Bora Bora once, but that was a freebie trip then.

 

[core2slow]

I rolled my eyes because I know they're making minimum wage/struggling graduate student.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Keeping up with the Jones's is nothing new....but no, never. In fact, one of the MOST annoying things is storefronts having the "tell everyone what you just bought!" thing. Also..Venmo....WTF is this world coming to? Attention whores, every one.













(P.S. Please like my post, I hear they give out hates for 10k likes)

 

[vi edit]

Food maybe. Somebody will post a picture from a local food truck or restaurant and I'll look and think "Hey, that looks good, I'll have to give it a shot". I've also caught wind of a couple kickstarters from targeted ads on Facebook. So yes to tech purchases too. Kickstarters are an interesting subject unto themselves. I enjoy backing unique, well designed gadgets.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Food maybe. Somebody will post a picture from a local food truck or restaurant and I'll look and think "Hey, that looks good, I'll have to give it a shot"

Pretty much this for me. I don't know that I've ever bought anything else because of a FB post. My wife does though. I think she's gotten little things like bows and headbands for our daughter because she saw someone post it.

 

[nakedfrog]

remove "social Media"




How is this different than any other time or place in history?

Precisely.

 

[Carson Dyle]

"Roughly four in 10 adults with a social media account (39%) say that seeing other people’s purchases and vacations on social media makes them look into a similar purchase or vacation, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Americans released this summer by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants."

remove "social Media"

How is this different than any other time or place in history?

Exactly. Back in the day when I was growing up, when the Jones family bought a new car, the next door neighbors (the Ryans) would buy one within months. (true story, including the names) Nothing has changed. Just good old fashioned human nature.

 

[ultimatebob]

"Roughly four in 10 adults with a social media account (39%) say that seeing other people’s purchases and vacations on social media makes them look into a similar purchase or vacation, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Americans released this summer by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants."

http://nypost.com/2016/09/13/facebook-is-making-you-poor-and-insecure/

Never having a facebook account, I can't fully comprehend this. But I do understand that peer pressure exists. Do your cyber "friends" ask you why you haven't traveled to Bora Bora, or why you don't own the latest Apple or Samsung phone? Do you believe you spend money, because you need to keep up with your cyber friends, who use to be referred to as the Jones?

No, but when you see pictures of your friends having a good time at some exotic destination, it often makes you want to take a similar vacation.

I bet that you would see similar small percentage increases of car sales from someone's Facebook friends a few weeks after they posted a picture of their shiny new ride. Humans cave to peer pressure pretty easily.

 

[1sikbITCH]

remove "social Media"




How is this different than any other time or place in history?

Because before the internet and specifically social media you were not following 4983434 of your best friends itinerary every single day. They are streaming, snapping, and tweeting every second of their existence. You see their entire lives and know every single detail about them. Previously you interacted with 12 folks on a busy day, could barely remember their names, and when cellphones were invented that number went to 20. Now that shit is global.

This is Facebook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBSDle4TjnQ

 

[TheGardener]

I got to 13 seconds of that video and had to stop it. I think I got the point.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Food maybe. Somebody will post a picture from a local food truck or restaurant and I'll look and think "Hey, that looks good, I'll have to give it a shot". I've also caught wind of a couple kickstarters from targeted ads on Facebook. So yes to tech purchases too. Kickstarters are an interesting subject unto themselves. I enjoy backing unique, well designed gadgets.

Okay, you got me there on both counts, but I thought the context was more about social pressure to buy things other people have. EDIT: Not on FB.

 

[pauldun170]

In the old timey days before social media, we used to pick up a phone and physically talk to friends on a "landline".
Some people, when phone contact wasn't a usual occurrence even sent these things called "letters" where it was a piece of paper. On that piece of paper they would write out shit they bought or did.
If they described it as "cool ass shit" then you would go to a catalog (either one you received in the mail or one you grabbed from a store) and read the description and the price.
You would consider buying that cool ass shit for yourself.
If you went to a friends house and they opened up this weird book thing called a "photo album" and there were pictures of women in bikinis or somebody skiing or maybe a tower in France...you would go to this place called a "Travel Agency" and talk to some with cigarette breath.

You'd ask them "How much does it cost to go to this cool ass place in my friends photo album. The place with the tower and the bikini."

Thousands of years ago they were forced to do that shit in caves.
You would go over your buddie Thoop's cave and he's have some cool ass deer drawings up on the wall.
Maybe a nice wolf pelt on the floor with braids in it.

First thing on your mind "I gotta get me one of those".


Nowawadays....we have six degrees of Kevin Bacon time 5000x on our phones with 100's of people we rarely talk to.
Social media has increase the exposure to "other peoples cool ass wolf pelts".
Kinda.

What do I know...
I still post on forums...
Like its 2004 or something

 

[bradly1101]

No, jealousy/envy is poison.

 

[KeithTalent]

Not on Facebook, so no.

KT

 

[Thebobo]

Never spent a dime because of Facebook adds

 

[Red Squirrel]

Nope.

But going on FB makes me realize that my life is quite boring and that I never travel, but oh well, that's how I like it. Not really a big traveler. I feel it's money wasted. That same money could go towards something physical that I'll enjoy for more than a week. I do wonder where people get the money to travel so much though. Especially now that our dollar is low.

 

[adairusmc]

I buy a lot of guns and ammo from facebook classifieds, but never spend money on advertisements or anything.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Never spent a dime because of Facebook adds

That's not what this is about. The claim is that its "keeping up with the Joneses" type of situation where people are buying stuff just to show it off on Facebook after seeing other people with similar stuff.

I do think that happens, but I don't think it is entirely that. Some of it is people going "oh that's something I want too" and buying it after seeing others get use or enjoy something. Its kinda like forums, where it could actually possibly save you money as you might find out about a better product or something that would save you money on something you were going to buy anyway.

So it isn't all bad. But social media has definitely pushed some of that frivolous spending so people can show off (I'm guilty of having done it in college).

Another issue is how much of it is marketing that isn't being disclosed though, where people were given stuff for free for acting like they bought a product and then gushing about it. I think there's been like 2-3 times already where there was a fuss made about that fact just with games and Youtube "personalities", and yet it still continues to happen.

 

[rh71]

Expected more "I am the Jones'!" responses.

 

[dullard]

I (and many others) have been posting great photos of the US national parks. Suddenly there is a spike in visitations to the national parks. I do not think that is a coincidence. Showing that a trip to these parks is fun, awe-inspiring, cheap, and accessible probably does convince others to go.

I've been mentally marking vacation plans from my friends on Facebook too, but I haven't yet gone since I had such a backlog of places to visit (my vacation list is about 5 to 10 years backlogged). So, technically, the answer is no I haven't spent money based on Facebook. But I hope to soon.

 

[clamum]

No, but I don't go on social media much. I also don't care that much about what others think so I don't feel any need to "keep up with the Joneses."

 

[pete6032]

It doesn't affect me over the long run. I will admit that I see people on vacation or people buying a new car and it makes me temporarily long for those things, but I still drive a 15 year old car and I have not been on an extended vacation for a while because I'm focused on saving money. I think I am more impacted by seeing people on transit wearing something stylish or fashionable and wanting that.