Scientists who obviously have never had sex, say posting stuff on Facebook nearly equals the fun of sex?

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-self-disclosure-study-20120508,0,7870124.story

“In a series of experiments, the researchers found that the act of disclosing information about oneself activates the same sensation of pleasure in the brain that we get from eating food, getting money or having sex.”

I think if posting on the interwebs equals the fun you have with sex… you are doing the sex wrong (or maybe you’ve found some awesome way to post on the Facebooks that I don’t know about…)

While I haven’t experienced orgasmic Facebook posts as the study would indicate… I do find social networks to be quite fun and a medium that humans are still learning to properly leverage.  Just like conversational interactions, people learned what you say, when you say it, and who the audience is.  You are just doing that now on a much more broad scale, not 1:1 interactions.  

As in any communication medium, it is rewarding to share and learn from others (for most people), so why would social networking be any different?   Think of how much fun and insight into themselves and others social outgoing people have compared to hermits who hide at home all day and just talk to their cats?

Observing others or getting feedback on your own experiences, offers a way to push yourself to learn/explore different topics and ideas you may not have otherwise.  And it’s fun to look back on what you’ve done – like a big, less crafty, scrap book 🙂

On the topic of privacy fears: Google, Microsoft, and Apple know more about me from searches, registration of products, or use of their products than Facebook/Tumblr/Twitter will ever know from random posts and mining those posts.   The fear of privacy on FB/social networks is what you make of it.   I know many people who shun social networks out of fear.  But being a realist… you still have control of what you post, who you friend, who you share with. The goal should be to understand how stuff works, and stop fearing it.    Or… Stop using Google/Bing/Yahoo!, stop using any of the modern web browsers, stop using any leading productivity apps, Any modern desktop OS, unplug your computer, hide in a cave… Then you’ll be in full control of your privacy, pending your cats don’t snitch on you. 🙂

<and ahhh…> 😉