Is Facebook Making You Miserable?
If identity is shaped by the society around us, then we can assume that children and adolescents today are under tremendous pressure to conform to the unrealistic ideals and images bombarded by the media and internet community. The nature of online social interaction means that we do not get the “full, realistic picture”, but rather the edited versions of people, their ‘highlight reels’ of perfection. Hiding behind the online subterfuge, users cannot sufficiently engage in their environment or community as effectively as would face-to-face encounters. The online movement, has resulted in reduced communication skills, understanding of non-verbal language cues and facial expression. Furthermore, individuals are drawn into the false impression that due to residing in the privacy of their own home/ workplace, behind a computer screen and using a pseudonym or different online persona, that the usual social conventions, expectations and manners/etiquette apply. As a result, individuals are disinhibited and much more likely to respond in a more harsher, denigrating and detrimental manner than they may usually do in confrontation or arguments. The social networking explosion has given birth to a new generation of attention-seeking, self-promoting individuals, each competing for their voice to be heard and recognized amongst the millions of people suddenly in our ‘community’ as opposed to the smaller, more intimate social environments in the past. Social media profiles, utilize image, ‘likes’, status updates, comments and popularity as a gauge of a person’s character and thus do not just attract a more narcissistic and self-obsessed population, but actively encourage all of its members to participate and engage in the judgmental way of thinking and behavior. So for an individual user then, the effect of participating in an environment that focuses on appearance and superficiality whilst simultaneously being fed lies and unrealistic images, hidden behind lines of code and photo-shopped images, how can possibly expect individuals to not suffer from insecurities and anxiety? How do we learn to distinguish fact from fiction?
And perhaps more importantly, how do we teach young, newer users of social media to discriminate between reality and fiction?
“Facebook Envy”….A precursor to “Facebook Depression?”
On the surface, social media websites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter appear benign, even beneficial in establishing and encouraging social engagement, communication and interaction. So why is it that we often are left feeling dissatisfied, disillusioned and discontent?
Let’s set the scene: you’re home on the weekend, with little planned, except to complete a couple of errands, maybe some homework, an assignment, or if you’re working- maybe with the sole intention of relaxing. It’s fair to say in your prastinating boredom, you resort to the computer and log in to your favourite social media website to see what everyone else is up to. Surely a little Facebooking will take your mind off things, like the stressful week at school/work/uni, the fight you had with your partner and the pile of homework/assignments/bills that threaten to give even the 7 wonders of the world a run for their money. So you start absentmindedly trawling through the Facebook newsfeed, and what you see is picture after picture of friends on vacation, traversing the world, participating in exciting activities and events. You see Sam’s new car, Josh and Tracy’s new house on the beach front, Jeremy’s night out where he met his favourite band, and- oh, all your friend’s at a birthday party that you seemed to have not been invited too.
Its no surprise that you feel more lousy than when you originally logged on. Social media encourages ‘social competition’ by causing it’s users to feel jealous, envious and discontent with our lives as opposed to the feeling of popularity, involvement, support, love and care we expect from the so-called warm embrace of our friends and our wider social network. [1] A 2013 article titled “Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction?” studied 600 participants of the social network website and found that 1 in 3 felt worse after visiting the site – especially if they viewed vacation photos, or spent extended time on without posting their own content to feel validated. [2] The study also stated “past research has linked consumption of social information on FB to such undesirable outcomes as jealousy, increase in social tension, social overload, isolation and even depression,” and that “passive following exacerbates envy feelings, which decrease life satisfaction. From a provider’s perspective, our findings signal that users frequently perceive Facebook as a stressful environment, which may, in the long-run, endanger platform sustainability.” [2] So indeed, it would appear as though Facebook has grown into something quite insidious and dark…where it once was a platform to leisurely engage with friends, has now matured into a source of stress and tension- linked to increasing pressures and strains of conformity on users. Interestingly, the study noted behaviours that I often see mimicked on Facebook myself, whereby as part of young people’s envy-coping plan, some users may engage in “even greater self-promotion and impression management.” [2] In fact, it was interesting to read the study’s interpretation of the increased self-promotion as a reaction to jealousy of other users, mentioning: “After all, overstatement of persona accomplishment is a common reaction to envy feelings This behaviour can trigger the phenomenon we denoted as the self-promotion – envy spiral, with users reacting with even more self-promotional content to the self-promotion of others. As a result, envy-ridden character of the platform climate can become even more pronounced” [2].
So whilst we may all begin with the intention of using social media for pleasure and relaxation, given the opportunity, and the ‘correct circumstances’ (e.g. increased insecurity, low self-esteem, heightened feelings of depression and anxiety all relatively common in the adolescent population), the negative seed can take root in the user’s psyche and grow- nurtured by the negative cycle of envy-self promotion-gratification-validation. Perhaps we can agree at the moment, for most of us, social media’s positive aspects currently supersede the negative aspects…however, how do we know when it begins to become detrimental to us? How do we identify when we become victims to the superficial publicity and self-promotion-envy spiral? Will we be able to tell at all? Like any addiction, the user does not wish to stop or acknowledge the damage the drug/tool has inflicted- nor does he/she often even realize they have a problem. The same applies for Facebook. Thus brings us to our question- how important is it for adolescents and pre-teens to be educated about the usage of the internet and its detrimental side effects? How young is too young? For adolescents who are already in a pressured environment socially, mentally and emotionally, who are developing, and experiencing a period of insecurity, often low self-esteem and uncertain sense of identity, what can be done to help prevent these detrimental aspects of social media affecting the adolescent mind set and culminating in mental illness? How do we identity those who need help? When does a teenager’s right to privacy end and the greater need for supervision on the internet begin- when we suspect that the teenager may be suffering online? Before? Or is it all a matter of teaching the new generations how to be more resilient and confident in themselves and if so, why should we expect them to do this- when this stress has previously been a void and absent factor in generations before them….do we even understand the full extent of social media and internet usage has on the developing brain?
The envy/misery and gratification/validation cycle of Social Media Addiction
What are your thoughts on Facebook?
Are we an addicted society?
What needs to be done?
References
[1]Sifferlin, A. 2013. Why Facebook Makes You Feel Bad About Yourself. [online] 24th January. Available at: http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/24/why-facebook-makes-you-feel-bad-about-yourself/ [Accessed: 26 Mar 2014].
[2] Krasnova, H., Wenninger, H., Widjaja, T. and Buxmann, P. 2013. Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction?. p. 92.
Generation Wired 