It is too early to tell what the long-term effects of Facebook use will be on our well-being. Photo by www.pexels.com, licensed under CC0.
Recently, there’s been a great deal of discussion about Facebook. Much of it has focused on Facebook’s role as a platform for journalism and politics. It’s also been discussed in relation to user privacy. There are also discussions on Facebook’s own product, which focus on the users’ health and mental health. Some political commentators make some inaccurate and exaggerated statements about the psychology behind Facebook. They claim that it is unhealthy and makes users feel lonely and depressed. This article will help us to think critically about the topic.
Matthew Yglesias, a Vox columnist, criticized Facebook’s core functions in an [1] as well as a [2] podcast. He claimed that Facebook was linked to poor mental health and social isolation. Yglesias cited a few studies that systematically examined the relationship between Facebook usage and people’s wellbeing. These studies support his thesis. Why would anyone use a product which makes them feel miserable and alone? Yglesias, Ezra Klein, and Sarah Kliff use a crude comparison that Facebook is similar to an unhealthy candy like Sour Patch Kids. It is both “bad” and “pleasant.” [2]
Is the scientific consensus on Facebook so one-sided, really? The psychological research is more mixed than Yglesias wants readers to believe. Many studies show positive links between Facebook and happiness (rather than negative associations), but other studies found no significant effect for most people.
Time spent on Facebook was only associated with depression in highly neurotic people. Researchers in Singapore and the U.S. conducted a study that found Facebook to be associated with depression when people feel envious. They suggested that emotional intelligence could help people control envious feelings and enjoy Facebook.
The data are only correlational, and therefore, it is difficult to infer causation. Researchers in Germany and the U.S. conducted a study in 2012 that used an experimental design. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a daily email telling them to update their status. Participants in the “post updates” group felt less lonely than the control group over a seven-day period.
Social networking sites can have a positive impact on people who are shy or have a low sense of self-esteem. They may find it more difficult to initiate and maintain social connections. Facebook offers socially shy people a way to connect with others. Researchers Julia Brailovskaia and Jurgen Marragraf stated that “People with low Self-Esteem benefit from using SNS because they make new friends and satisfy their desire to belong.” [3]
Facebook has admitted that Facebook is bad. According to Yglesias’s report, Facebook has admitted that the site is bad for mental health and discourages employees from using the site the same way as the rest of the public. Facebook’s comments were more general. Facebook scientists stated in a blog that they were studying both the positive and the negative effects of Facebook use and that they were working to create Facebook so that it would be beneficial and healthy for everyone. [7] There is no evidence I can find that Facebook employees are using it differently from consumers or that Facebook discourages their employees from using it the way people do.
Some studies have shown a negative association between Facebook usage and well-being [8]. However, other studies have found dramatically different results. What’s the solution? What’s the answer? It could be both, depending on the way Facebook is used. Take a look at the different activities that people do on Facebook. Some people use Facebook for entertainment (e.g., funny memes), while others use it to get information (e.g., news). Others use it for connecting with people they know (family & friends), while some use it as a way to meet new people. Facebook is used in two ways: Active involves direct communication, and Passive involves mindless scrolling. Passive use can be detrimental to your well-being. However, the same cannot necessarily be said for active use. It’s not possible. Researchers have noted that many studies don’t differentiate between the different activities that people do on social networks and that “aggregating” these activities can cause problems.
The research findings regarding Facebook and well-being are (at best) mixed. However, one thing is certain. Political commentators have exaggerated the psychological effects that Facebook can have. Why are so many people so convinced that Facebook is bad for wellbeing? Are we all misunderstanding something? Some people believe that Facebook is causing a Moral Panic, which could be due to superstitions regarding new technologies. [4] This kind of moral panic can be an exaggerated and extreme concern over something that might not be that problematic. It’s important that journalists and pundits provide the correct context when reporting on psychological research. We wish for the American public and lawmakers to refrain from reacting in a way that could create more problems.
References
[3] Brailovskaia, J., & Margraf, J. (2016). An exploratory study comparing Facebook users with Facebook non-users. Plos ONE, 11(12).
[4] Chow, T. S., & Wan, H. Y. (2017). Is it possible to have a ‘Facebook Depression?’ Explore the moderating role of Neuroticism, Facebook Social Comparison, and Envy. Personality Differences 119,277-282. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2017.07.032
[5] Tandoc, E. J., Ferrucci, P., & Duffy, M. (2015). Facebook use, depression and Facebooking among college students: is it depressing? Computers and Human Behavior 43,139 -146. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.10.053
[6] Deters, F. g., & Mehl, M. R. (2013). Does posting status updates on Facebook increase or decrease loneliness? An online social network experiment. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4(5), 579-586. doi:10.1177/1948550612469233
[7] Ginsberg, D. & Burke, M. (2018). Hard questions: Is spending time on social media bad for us? Retrieved from https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/12/hard-questions-is-spending-time-on-social-media-bad-for-us/
[8] Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D. S., Lin, N., & … Ybarra, O. (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults. Plos ONE, 8(8).
[9] Verduyn, P., Lee, D. S., Park, J., Shablack, H., Orvell, A., Bayer, J., & … Kross, E. (2015). Passive Facebook use undermines well-being. Experimental and longitudinal evidence. Journal of Experimental Psychology
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