In essence, Facebook's impact on mental health
In essence, Facebook is the millennium's new addition. Although virtual, it creates a way for many people to stay updated on the latest trends, make up for lost time, share gossip, or live vicariously through the experience of others. Furthermore, it is not only a way to keep track of others but also to monitor them. Facebook furnishes us with the social capital, the valuable social encounters that make us feel in-touch and connected. However, remember that not every person feels Facebook is a pleasing and upbeat social pastime. Viewing photos or reading stories of friends' activities could make a person feel disconnected or question the value of their own societal position. As such, the use of Facebook causes depression to many people. Through some people say that Facebook can evoke warm feelings of connectedness and nostalgia (Ho, et al. 431), I say it can spur feelings of inadequacy and jealousy as well. This negative feeling, in turn, causes depression among users.
The impact of idealized representations on Facebook
First, being exposed to exceptionally idealized representations of friends on Facebook evokes feelings of jealousy and the distorted belief that others live a happier life than you. Those individuals who participate in less important activities on Facebook make them feel like they are idle. Investing more energy and time on Facebook makes people feel wasted, causing depression (Baker and Algorta 639). Also, Facebook fuels internet addiction, a mental condition linked to depression, and even the company is aware of this. Facebook realized that its social network channels greatly influence its users' moods. For instance, in 2012, the company's data scientists carried out a contentious experiment on human behavior where 689,003 users' News Feeds were manipulated by having either all negative posts or the positive post removed to study whether the moods of those users were affected. The results of the study were as anticipated. Those users who received more negative feeds shared all the more depressing contents, and vice versa. As a platform, it provides people with information that they did not have about their friends, which gives them more opportunities to socially compare (Fei Jiun and Kik 2). You cannot generally control the drive to compare since you cannot tell what your friend will post next. Furthermore, the greater part of our Facebook friends mainly post about the great things happening in their lives while excluding the bad things. Consequently, when individuals self-compare with their friends, 'highlight reels,' causing them to think that their friends' lives are much better than what they are in reality. This makes them feel bad about their own lives. In addition, Pantic (2014, pp 253) said that individuals with emotional problems might be especially vulnerable to depression because of Facebook social comparison after investing more time and energy on the platform. For those who are already distressed, this distorted perspective of their friends' lives may make them feel lonely and disconnected, which may exacerbate their feelings of isolation and loneliness.
The diminishing value of face-to-face interactions
Secondly, the use of Facebook has replaced real-life face-to-face interactions between people, even family members. This can negatively affect a person's well-being. It is worth noting that taking part in "real-world" interpersonal networks can positively affect health (GRAHAM 69). The exposure to deliberately curated images of other people's lives prompts negative self-comparison, and the sheer amount of Facebook interactions may prevent individuals from engaging in more important face-to-face experiences. In our modern world where we can pass a message to millions across the world with a click of a mouse, the most important kind of communication, face-to-face interaction, is turning out to be less essential. Facebook can adversely affect people whenever used to supplant social interaction instead of enhancing it, creating false senses of connection, changes to how individuals approach relationships, and adverse emotional reactions to these sorts of communications. Life on Facebook is regularly becoming a substitution for establishing and building real-world connections and this mentality is fundamentally wrong (Pantic 654). While research has demonstrated that the use of Facebook can detract from face-to-face relationships, increase sedentary behavior, erode self-esteem through negative comparison, cause internet addiction, and decrease participation in meaningful activities, the effects go further than this. The lack of face-to-face interaction between people leads to less sharing of real-world problems (Baker and Algorta 647). For instance, since even families do not engage in direct face-to-face discussion, no one shares their problems. This means that people keep their problems to themselves, leading them to be depressed and alone.
The dark side of cyberbullying on Facebook
Thirdly, cyberbullying is a big problem on Facebook and has caused depression to many people (Anderson, et al. 282). Cyberbullying ranges from "fat-shaming" on Facebook, where users or friends post offensive comments about a person's appearance or weight when they post a photograph, to much more destructive types of harassment. According to Anderson, et al. (2014, pp 284), one especially sinister type of cyberbullying includes taking private photographs, the kind an individual may send to a girlfriend or boyfriend, and making them public and seen by everyone. There's nothing more mortifying than having an almost nude photograph of yourself, proposed just for a lover, made public. This causes extreme depression and has even led to suicide in the worst-case scenarios (Chong Guan, et al. 3). The issue is perhaps serious among teenagers, where social acceptance is such a critical piece of the juvenile experience. According to Chong Guan, et al. (2016, pp 10), at the end of the day, a pattern of emotional or verbal abuse on Facebook can lead many adolescents down a dark, slippery path to depression. Just imagine coming to school every morning, just to find your acquaintances and friends gossiping about what things were said about you on Facebook. In the long run, this has the potential for some truly adverse outcomes (Anderson, et al. 286). Around 30 percent of people who have been harassed on Facebook have depression and suicidal thoughts.
Conflicting arguments
Conversely, there have been arguments contradicting the fact that Facebook causes depression. Others, for instance, Ho, et al. (2016, pp 434), contend that the use of Facebook makes people happier. They also contend that it expands social engagement and trust and even supports political participation. They call attention to the fact that virtual social connection can cushion against pain and stress which are related to depression. Also, Pantic (2014, pp. 656) argues that students who were heavy users of Facebook reported more elevated amounts of "social capital," comprising resources such as job opportunities and emotional support that may emerge from membership of groups found on Facebook (Ho, et al. 435). Besides, others have discovered that using Facebook affects health through expanded support and the reinforcement of relationships in the real world. However, contradicting studies showed that People who had left Facebook felt happier and were less lonely and sad.
Conclusion
Facebook has many effects on its users. While some of these effects might be positive, for instance, sharing information and keeping in touch, its negative effects are also serious. From negative self-comparison to the loss of the fundamental form of interaction (face-to-face communication) to cyberbullying, all of which causes depression, it is clear that Facebook has serious psychological health effects. Some may argue that Facebook makes us happy, enhances social interactions, and increases social capital; however, the truth is that it has caused the most dangerous form of mental health problem, depression.
Works Cited
Anderson, Jenn, et al. "Combating Weight-Based Cyberbullying on Facebook with the Dissenter Effect." Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, vol. 17, no. 5, 2014, pp. 281-286.
Baker, David A., and Guillermo P. Algorta. "The Relationship Between Online Social Networking and Depression: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies." Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, vol. 19, no. 11, 2016, pp. 638-648.
Chong Guan, et al. "Cyber Bullying - A New Social Menace." ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 17, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1-13. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.
Fei Jiun, and Kik. "The Wall Heroes: Self-Praising Posts, Pretentious Likes and Negative Emotions on Facebook." 2017, pp. 1-8, Tunku Abdual Rahman University College. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.
GRAHAM, LOUISE H. "IS FEAR OF MISSING OUT INSTRUMENTAL IN UNDERSTANDING HEALTH OUTCOMES RELATED TO SOCIAL MEDIA USE?" American Journal of Medical Research, vol. 5, no. 1, 2018, pp. 67-72.
Ho, L., et al. "Analgesic effect of Facebook: Priming with online social networking may boost felt relatedness that buffers against physical pain." Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, vol. 57, no. 5, 2016, pp. 433-436, doi:10.1111/sjop.12313.
Pantic, Igor. "Online Social Networking and Mental Health." Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, vol. 17, no. 10, 2014, pp. 652-657.
