The social network sites are online platforms where people develop and maintain social connections. Since the emergence of social media, there have been numerous debates about the effect of these sites on the well being of their users. One group is in support of the social networking sites, and they argue that since these sites lead to social connection and interactions, they also influence well being and mental health. These interactions make the users feel a sense of belonging through creating new friends, expressing their feelings, thoughts and their identities; this, in turn, improves subjective well being. On the other hand, the opposing group claims that the social media have negative impacts on the well being of the users. The negative interactions that may arise while one is using these sites make them feel isolated, and this eventually causes depression and mental illness. This paper will define social networking sites and examine their effects on the well being of individuals.
Keywords: subjective well being, social network sites, mental illness, self-image, social-desirability.
Social Networking Sites and Well-being
Introduction
The advancement in technology in 21st century led to the emergence of social media such as MySpace, and Facebook. These social networking platforms have attracted the attention of many people with the majority of the users being the teenagers. The use of social network sites has tremendously increased since the beginning of 21st century, and they have become an essential part of the modern culture. The research concerning the impacts of these sites on the well being of the users is necessary because of the increased debate surrounding their effect on the depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and loneliness.
The unique feature about social platforms is it is possible for the individuals to make their social networks visible. This capability leads to the connection between people who would have never been able to meet. The goal of the social media is to aid communication between individuals who are members of the broader social network. According to study by Donah and Nicole, these sites refers to " web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system" (Danah, 2007).
After joining these sites, individuals identify those other users in the system that they have a relationship with and connect with them. Some sites are bi-directional where both parties confirm friendship request while others are uni-directional where confirmation by both parties is not necessary. The social network sites have a standard feature of public display. The profile has a list of friends with links that can lead to each friend's profile which makes it possible for the viewers to browse through the website by clicking on the links. On most social networking sites the permitted users are allowed access to the profiles of the listed friends on their walls.
According to the study by Nicole and Donah, the social media like Facebook are vital in the maintenance of the already existing offline connections or relationships rather than just helping in the meeting of the new people. The study further found out that some common offline elements influence the connections taking place over the online social platforms like being a former classmate. The study also reveals that Facebook users are more interested in connecting with people they already have an offline connection with rather than those people with whom they have no links at all (Danah,2007). Although the users utilize the platforms to connect with each other, these sites have become an integral part of their lives and are more than an avenue for connecting with each other.
Effect of Social Networking on users well being
Individual's well being can be categorized into objective well being and subjective well being. The objective well being focuses on solid materials as well as quantitative indicators like educational attainment, economic stability, and safe neighborhood. The subjective well being, on the other hand, focuses on the individual's social, psychological, and physical health as well as spiritual aspects. There is a belief that social networking could be one of the significant factors affecting the subjective well-being of college-age individuals who also are the majority users of these sites.
In the study by Kim Jung-Hyun and Roselyn Lee, the researchers attributed the growth of Facebook to their positive impact on the users' psychological well being. The researchers found out that self-presentation and the friends one have on Facebook have a positive impact on the individual's well being. Similarly, the positive feedbacks a user receives from his or her social media friends also play a vital role in enhancing his or her self-reported personal well being. In their study on how various self-presentation strategies are affecting the well being of the Facebook users, the result was that these social media provide a platform for the users to use status updates, sharing posts, and the management of photo album while engaging in self-presentation (Junghyun " Lee, 2011). While participating in these activities, some individuals choose only to share their most favorable and appropriate photos while others decide to use the true to self-strategy of presenting themselves and these different strategies have an impact on the subjective well being as well as perceived social support.
Friendship is essential in enhancing the practical and emotional aspects of a person and hence a critical factor in the enhancement of happiness. Acquiring friendship on Facebook does not require much effort, "the number of Facebook friends may have positive effects on well being. With Facebook visualizing and displaying the ‘‘friends'' connections, a large number of friends could remind users of their social connections and boost their self-esteem," (Junghyun " Lee, 2011) this might also improve their levels of well being. The study further found out that the social support of an individual increase with the increase in Facebook friends up to a particular level beyond which will have no constructive impact. The Facebook users with too many friends may find it difficult to build friendship relationship with each of these friends, and instead, they will become a group of spectators. Also, too few friends create a negative perception, and this could be detrimental as such view might send away potential supporters. "Therefore, the number of Facebook friends may have a positive association with social support only up to a certain point and possibly a negative association beyond that level" (Junghyun " Lee, 2011).
In the research by Kim and Lee, they concluded that Facebook as a social networking site directly influence the subjective well being in situations where the users' self-image is preserved and represented in the self-presentation. However, in cases where an individual choose to present honest self-presentation, there is an indirect influence on the subjective well being due to the support provided by their Facebook friends. The study reveals the importance of an honest self-presentation because it leads to social support that is beneficial to the subjective well being. On the other hand, hiding the true self will lead to the happiness that is not based on the Facebook friends' meaningful social support.
This research, however, has some limitations that include errors arising from respondents' biases due to their strong social-desirability. Similarly, the study only focused on the college-age users, and this makes it difficult to generalize its findings as a representation of the general population since currently, the users of the social network sites comprise of both teenagers and adults.
Ethan Kross and his colleagues in their study on the "Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults," (Ethan et al., 2013) they focused on the effective well being and life satisfaction. This study shows that an increase or decrease in the use of Facebook does not correlate with how individuals feel. However, the use of Facebook predicts a decrease in the life satisfaction as well as a decline in effect. Although people use social networking sites whenever they are feeling bad, these feelings lead to a decrease in well being. Loneliness enhances the use of Facebook with time, and from the study, the use of Facebook has a negative impact on cognitive well being and effective well being in situations of controlled loneliness. From this result, we can deduce that "neither worry nor loneliness interacted significantly with Facebook use to predict changes in affective or cognitive well-being" (Ethan et al., 2013). By basing on the research, it is clear that how one uses social networking sites and the kind of people he or she interacts with will determine how it will affect his or her social well being.
In another Systematic Review by Meeyoung Cha and colleagues, the authors found out that there exists a correlation between lower depression and anxiety levels on interactions, social support, and connectedness on social networking sites. The study reveals that positive social interactions reduces the level of anxiety and depression and positively influences the levels of life satisfaction and self-esteem. However, social comparison and negative interactions lead to an increase in anxiety and depression (Junghyun et al., 2016). Similarly, the use of social networking site might also expose the users to negative social interactions such as cyber-bullying and as a result affecting their mental health and moods negatively.
Conclusion
These studies have been vital in elaborating how necessary it is for the people to understand how various factors in the social networking sites may be beneficial or detrimental to the well being and mental health. The use of these web-based social platforms could either be harmful or advantageous to the well being of an individual depending on how the user decides to use it and also the kind of people one interacts with matters a lot. The results from various studies have outlined that positive interactions on the social media could make one happy and satisfied, an aspect that promotes subjective well being. On the contrary, comparisons and detrimental social interaction activities like cyber-bullying is damaging and should be avoided at all costs because they may lead to depression and even psychological problem and in turn negatively affecting well being.
References
Danah M, Boyd N, Ellison (2007). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 13, Issue 1, 1 October 2007, Pages 210–230, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.xPublished: 01 October 2007. Retrieved on July 3, 2018, from https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/pages/About
Ethan K, Philippe V, EmreDemiralp, Jiyoung P, David S, Lee, Natalie L, Holly S, John J, and Oscar Y (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults. Journal of PLoS One. 2013; 8(8): e69841 pages 1-6.Published online 2013 Aug 14. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069841. Retrieved on July 3, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3743827/
Junghyun K and Lee R. (2011). The Facebook paths to happiness: Effects of the number of Facebook friends and self-presentation on subjective well-being. Journal of Cyberpsychology Behaviour, and Social Networking, Vol. 14, Pages 359-364. Volume 14, No 6, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2010.0374. Published in 2011. Retrieved on July 3, 2018, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0010/5c23fed1cff49b7ff15a592fd25757e3f2ed.pdf
Meeyoung C, Simon R, and Jesse G (2016).Social Networking Sites, Depression, and Anxiety: A Systematic Review. Journal of Mental Health: published online 2016Nov 23. doi: 10.2196/mental.5842Retrieved on July 3, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5143470/
