For many, modern communities include the virtual realm as well as the physical. Facebook and other social media platforms ostensibly draw people together, but there are growing concerns that the anonymity provided by this channel of communication can exacerbate bullying and other social ills while simultaneously creating further isolation (Yeager, Trzesniewski, Tirri, Nokelanian, & Dweck, 2011). Beyond this concern regarding deindividuation’s role in virtual bullying and other online attacks known as “flaming,” there is the concern that dissatisfaction with one’s own life circumstances rise in tandem with increased time spent on social media. This phenomenon has been referred to in the media as “Facebook depression” following a somewhat controversial American Academy of Pediatrics report evaluating college students’ Facebook comments for signs of depression (Company, 2016).
Festinger’s social comparison theory (1954) is a well-documented psychological phenomenon in which individuals unconsciously manipulate their self-esteem by virtue of whom they measure themselves against; one chooses whether to engage in upward or downward comparisons (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012). In short, we motivate ourselves to improve by comparing ourselves to aspirational targets, and protect ourselves when threatened by comparing ourselves to those worse off than ourselves. In the age of social media, this relatively adaptive strategy can seem to operate on steroids. With constant access to a plethora of images and stories through traditional and social media, we have no shortage of possibilities to compare ourselves to others. So is spending time on Facebook or other social media sites detrimental to one’s mental health, or not?
Like many results of studies in the behavioral sciences, the answer is, “it depends.” Gender, age, mental health status and other variables interact in surprising ways to make a simple answer to the question out of reach. For example, in one study, active female users of Facebook perceive that they receive social support through the platform, which decreased a depressed mood, but active male or passive female users have been shown to become more depressed (Frison & Eggermont, 2016). Furthermore, while social support received from peers through platforms like Facebook may decrease depression, this type of support may simply mask a user’s perception of their depression level rather than improving it clinically.
Interestingly, researchers Steers, Wickham and Acetelli (2015) concluded that social comparisons are not only the mediating factor in the association between time spent on Facebook and depression, but that it does not matter what type of comparisons are made (Company, 2016). To wit, they discovered that instead of downward social comparisons resulting in enhanced self-esteem as predicted, making comparisons of any kind led to increased depressive symptoms. Their takeaway? Know thyself. If you have a tendency toward depression, Facebook may be your frenemy. Do yourself a favor, and step away from the keyboard if exposure to the “highlight reels” of those in your social circle is making you feel bad about yourself.
So how do you feel? Do you ever get a Facebook hangover (feelings of insecurity and isolation, depressed mood) like I do when I spend too much time on social media? Or do you think that, overall, access to a virtual community enhances your mood? Or – like many things in life – is your answer, “it depends”?
References
Co, E. (2016, October 19). Stop comparing yourself with others. Retrieved November 3, 2016, from http://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/photo-gallery/34157152/image/34166651/Stop-Comparing-Yourself-Others
Company, G. V. P. Is “Facebook depression” for real? Retrieved November 3, 2016, from http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/exc_080811.shtml
Frison, E., & Eggermont, S. (2016). Exploring the relationships between different types of facebook use, perceived online social support, and adolescents’ depressed mood. Social Science Computer Review, 34(2), 153-171.
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications
Yeager, D.S., Trzesniewski, K.H., Tirri, K., Nokelanian, P., & Dweck, C.S. (2011). Adolescents’ implicit theories predict desire for vengeance after peer conflicts: Correlational and experimental evidence. Developmental Psychology, 47. 1090-1107. doi: 10.1037/a0023769
When I saw the title of your blog post I was interested in what you had to say. The amount of frustration Facebook causes me when I get on and see the constant disrespect for everyone to have their own opinion or how negative people need to be because they like starting problems. I absolutely get a “hangover” from too much time spent on Facebook, or any form of social media in general but part of me is not willing to give it up because I am afraid of missing things. If wonder if that is how most of us feel, frustrated but afraid to miss out because we spend most of our down time on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter that it is almost like an addiction and without it we could go through withdrawal. Good Job!
It’s easy to get sucked into the “smoke screen” people put up on social media. Even I’m guilty of it on occasion. On my part, it’s not necessarily an effort to make my life look perfect, more like I feel that my negative experiences are not something I choose to share nor to revel in. I’m like this in my everyday life, though. I’m more than happy to share positive experiences, minor annoyances, and interesting tidbits. I’m mush less likely to tell people who aren’t in my inner circle about unhappiness, depression, social anxiety, etc.
I like to think that this is the reason behind many others’ seemingly “perfect” lives online, but it probably isn’t necessarily the case. On one hand I feel like people should take the ego boost their perfect online lives provide. On the other hand, this can create the perception of unattainable standards for easily influenced adolescents. They think that life should be perfect all of the time, and if it isn’t somethings seriously wrong. This can create a slippery slope for sensitive kids, resulting in depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and the like.
It is really interesting how the social media can modulate our senses and our humor, isn’t it? most people make the social media a family member and sometimes they get very dependent of this social source of interaction. It is danger to get to this path, and that is why many people feel depressed with too much online interactions. As humans, we have the need to interact with other and use those interactions to construct cues about the world around us (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, & Sommers, 2016). We call online interactions “social media”, but it is actually a pseudo-socialization as we do not have in person encounter (PSU, WC, Psych 424, lesson 9, 2016), besides all the ambiguity that is involved in this type of socialization.
The problem with all this online interactions also, is that the door for false information, bullying, negligent racist comments and aggressive behaviors is wide open. No wonder why some people can feel the Facebook hangover, as you have mentioned and depression caused by those interactions (Schneider, 2012, p. 281). The personal effects of these type of social environment can vary according with the personal perceptions, like you have said. However, many people do believe that Facebook and other social media sources can cause more drama then it can help (Schneider, 2012, p. 281). If we want to have a real community experience, I believe we should turn out attention more to the social environment just around us. There is probably a lot to be explored in our surroundings, but because we feel often overwhelmed and confused with social cues, we usually decide to engage in online experience (PSU, WC, Psych 424, lesson 9, 2016). Nothing is really wrong on socialize online, but in the end we may end up lacking of skills that can help our social interactions in our own community, schools or work. Maybe, this seclusion is what make us experience a bystander effect when we face real situations (Latané, & Nida, 1981).
If we experience only online socialization, we probably will not positively react in a emergency to help a stranger. Thus, we will be bystanders and may fail in help others’ in need of help (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, & Sommers, 2016). The use of online communities should be limited; we should be cautious with both positive and negative effects that it can have over us. For many other uses, the online community may be very reliable and suitable, such as professional groups because they may be low cost and the professional network follow different rules than social media (Schneider, 2012, p. 282).
References
Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Sommers, S. R. (2016). Social psychology (Ninth ed.). New York: Pearson.
Latané, B., & Nida, S. (1981). Ten years of research on group size and helping. Psychological Bulletin, 89(2), 308-324. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/614356949?accountid=13158 (Links to an external site.)
Penn State University, World Campus (Fall, 2016). Psych 424: Lesson 8. Retrieved from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802487/discussion_topics/11378506?module_item_id=21233994
Schneider, F.W., Grumman, J.A., & Coutts, L.M. (2012) Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.