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• 'I post, therefore I am'. Social researcher Laura Demasi goes inside the minds of chronic online opinion givers, social media obsessives, serial commenters and.

Gizmodo has a livestream on our Facebook. NASA is streaming the solar eclipse on its Facebook page. CNN is also livestreaming on Facebook. Twitter. Twitter is.

Social media obsession just a crave for love and attention. Scrolling through Twitter or Facebook, or scanning the comments on product review sites, forums, blogs and stories on news sites like this one, one can feel like the whole world is screaming, posting, liking, sharing, commenting and hash- tagging itself silly. It's as if every click leds to more ranting, posturing, gloating, evangelising, arguing and complaining. The so- called "information- super highway" is now in a perpetual state of gridlock, choked with opinion on everything from the cad on The Bachelor to the pros and cons of top- loader washing machines. Trolls under the spotlight. Illustration: Simon Letch Photo: Simon Letch. The truth is, while it might feel like everyone is opining, it's really just a small but highly active minority – we put it at around 8 per cent of the population – that's making most of the noise.

Take a look at your Facebook feed. How many of your friends post every day or more? A handful, I bet, and the same for Twitter. And your favourite forums or news sites - look carefully at the comment threads and you'll see the same user names come up again and again. Social researcher Laura Demasi regularly visits Australians at home to talk about their lives. So what drives this loquacious 8 per cent, or "social creatives" as we've dubbed them? Social" because social media is like oxygen to them and "creatives" because, by and large, that's how they refer to themselves, no matter what they do for work).

More interestingly, what leads them to believe that everyone else out there in the digital ether – friends, acquaintances and complete strangers – wants to hear their opinion at every turn? The answers lie not in neat generational categorisations like "millennial" or "digital native" – but more in psychological profile. While most in this social obsessive group are young – 7. Facebook  as a 2. Phone. For social creatives, the digital world is the world, there's no separation between the two. They are, well, prone to self- obsession and self- absorption.

Social media is much more than just a communications tool for them. The image they project on social media and elsewhere online, usually a highly idealised one, is intimately bound with their broader sense of self- identity. There was little need for sophisticated psychological analysis to arrive at this conclusion. The social creatives I spoke to in a recent study spelt out very clearly their highly strategic approach to conducting themselves online, often using the language of marketers to refer to themselves as "brands" and social media as their "personal PR machine". As one research participant said, "Facebook is like an advertisement for your world. It's like having your own TV channel.""Everyone is their own PR agent. Kabhi Kabhi Episode 20. Watch Congo Streaming'>Watch Congo Streaming.

You're curating your content on social media based on what you want people to think about you," said another: Which brings me to the "creative" part of the moniker we've given to this group. Members of this group often refer to themselves as "creatives"; self- appointed "content creators" and "content curators" (as opposed to "users", which is what the rest of us are) who get a thrill out of the possibility of shaping the tastes and opinions of others. Apparently, it's a stressful job. It's a cut- throat world. If you're not posting good stuff all of the time, they'll un- follow you," said one participant of the pressure of maintaining his followers on Twitter. In a social creatives' world, broadcasting one's opinion far and wide online is more than just a form of self- expression, it's a right."We have a right to say what we want," said another research participant. If you don't want to look at someone's post because it's too rude or whatever, then turn away. You don't have to read it."Of course, as in real life, there's a darker side to all of this unfettered free speech."I like to post an inflammatory viewpoint or argument just to illicit a response," admitted one participant, while another found no shame in admitting his penchant for trolling.

I'm a little bit of a troll. I've made a fake name to stalk someone. I like baiting people for a heated reaction."But before you turn away in disgust, consider one of the other defining characteristics of members of this group and you might feel a sliver of empathy. Despite their confidence and bravado, what's really driving many of these guys is an intense need for acknowledgment, validation and acceptance. It is like my tantrum- throwing four- year- old when he lays on the floor crying for some arbitrary reason – "It's Monday but I want it to be Tuesday!". Some people are really just looking for attention.

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Watch the latest movie trailers and previews for current & upcoming releases! Lean On Me Full Movie Online Free. You're one click away from watching our exclusive movie trailers & featurettes! My mom loves me. But she also “likes” me—a lot. And apparently, when she does so on Facebook, it’s hurting my chances of becoming the next viral sensation. Nick Douglas. Staff Writer, Lifehacker Nick has been writing online for 11 years at sites like Urlesque, Gawker, the Daily Dot, and Slacktory.

And probably for love, which will hopefully not be replaced by "likes" when my son is old enough to join Facebook. Hopefully his reaction then will be different to this research participant: "If I posted something and it didn't get many 'likes', I'm upset for the rest of the day."Laura Demasi is a social researcher and director at global research firm Ipsos.