The relationship between social software and personal emotion has been discussed for several years, but the correlation has not been clearly proved. This year, a study at the University of Pennsylvania found for the first time that the use of social media, such as Facebook, twitter and INS, can affect people’s health and increase people’s depression and loneliness. This research is done in a different way, because the new IOS system of the iPhone has a new function, that is, “screen usage time”. This allows researchers to collect active usage data of users’ social platforms from users’ iPhones (excluding the background running of apps). 143 undergraduate students of Penn University will complete a questionnaire (including 7 scales) on their emotional and physical and mental health at the beginning of the experiment. Then they were told that they needed to send screenshots of screen usage time to the researchers every night for the next four weeks. A week later, the subjects received a second emotion assessment questionnaire. At the same time, the subjects got their grouping information. They were randomly divided into the control group (their social app usage habits remained unchanged) and the experimental group (they could only play on Facebook, INS, and snapchat for 10 minutes a day). In the next three weeks, they will receive the evaluation questionnaire again every week, and they need to send the screen use time to the experimenters every night for data collection. The results showed that reducing their time using social apps compared with normal (about 30 minutes less per day according to the research data) would significantly improve the subjects’ mental health and reduce their depression and loneliness. It was even worse for those who had depressive symptoms at the beginning of the experiment. This result is very black humor. Why do you spend less time using social apps and feel less lonely? Isn’t the core function of social app in vain. In fact, it is not difficult to understand this conclusion if you study deeply, because today’s social apps, especially the information flow of INS, are full of comparison content. When users see other people’s lives through social apps, it is easy to arbitrarily conclude that others live better than themselves.
The prosperity of social media is one of the basic manifestations of social and economic prosperity and development, but it is only a product and a tool after all. How to make good use of it is our most fundamental goal. The birth of products is driven by demand. In the past, cars and horses were very slow, and it may take half a year for a letter to go back and forth, which made the ancients attach importance to emotion, righteousness and parting sad. However, with the rapid development of science and technology in modern society, the barriers of time and space have been broken through again and again. The rapid development of 4G and 5g has shortened our distance on the cloud. The satisfaction of instant messaging also reduces our social cost. At the same time, psychological defense is constantly strengthened, and trust between people is more difficult to obtain.
Reference
Melissa G. Hunt, Rachel Marx, Courtney Lipson, Jordyn Young. No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2018; 751 DOI: 10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751
Hi,
This is interesting research about how social media could affect our emotions. I can relate to this experience since I will be likely to check my screen using time from time to time. I agree with what you said about the comparison would be why individuals tend to feel less confident about themselves. Another limitation of social media is that the health information found on social media and other online resources is unqualified and untrustworthy. (Ventola, 2014) As you mentioned, the symptoms of depression are prone to exacerbate with the increased time to use social applications. It will be risky for one to believe the information provided by the unknown or unauthentic author. Especially for those with mental health issues, the extra stimulus might result in their unwillingness to seek help or communicate with people around them. Another limitation Ventola (2014) mentioned in the journal was that social media users might also be vulnerable to hidden and overt conflicts of interest that they may be incapable of interpreting. Social media provides a platform for anonymous interaction with strangers, which leads to individuals’ hostile attacks on the other without being responsible for what is happening. A verbal wound can be as terrible as a physical act. Nonetheless, the development of novelty inventions comes with both risks and benefits. As long as we use it appropriately, it will bring us less harm but more advantages.
Ventola C. L. (2014). Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices. P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 39(7), 491–520.