The Simple Reason Why Facebook Ads Will Always Be More Valuable

After receiving many requests from others, I will be releasing a book on all of the topics covered in this blog. Add your email here to be notified when it’s released and get access to the signed early copies.

In another post, I wrote about the feedback loop between peer comparisonon the news feed and uploading content to receive external validation (only inflaming the peer comparison others experience). Peer comparison produces social anxiety, and external validation reduces it. We use Facebook more and generally feel worse. That is because both peer comparison and external self esteem both have been known to be associated with depression, even whennot on Facebook. But we keep going back to reduce social anxiety from receiving validation on Facebook, as well as to get the short term stimulation from seeing new information about people in our community — but all the while the social anxiety from peer comparison grows. This is the path of least resistance; the psychological user flow.

There is another feedback loop. When we consume content on the newsfeed — the first page of Facebook we are exposed to after logging in — the social anxiety from subconscious peer comparison increases ourvulnerability to ads: to clicking on ads and buying products and services marketed through those ads to reduce social anxiety. This is because those products and services are often marketed as solutions that reduce social anxiety — particularly clothes. This, I imagine, is why you see so many clothes advertised on Facebook. Like uploading content and receiving external validation, purchasing new clothes (among else) also allows us to reduce social anxiety produced on Facebook. Clothing companies get better results on their ad spend, and they spend more money on ads, outcompeting with other industries.

Because of all this, Facebook is able to price their ads higher and make more money. They are able to track not only clicks on ads, but also purchases after someone clicks and ad. And even if you don’t purchase right after a click, but instead a few weeks later, Facebook can still attribute that purchase to that advertisement. And they deserve to, in some sense, because the ad likely subconsciously impacted you, particularly in your state of vulnerability, and helped inform your decision in purchasing a product.

We use Facebook, we have social anxiety, and then engagewith advertisements and buy things being marketed to reduce that social anxiety. Facebook makes money, and we acclimate to engaging in consumption to satisfy our psychological needs.

Because of the user experience, Facebook ads will always be more effective. The inventory of ads will be more valuable.

After receiving many requests from others, I will be releasing a book on all of the topics covered in this blog. Add your email here to be notified when it’s released and get access to the signed early copies.

The Mentalist - Hacker Noon

The Simple Reason Why Facebook Ads Will Always Be More Valuable was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.