Social media outlets have been paving the way for a new age of constant communication with one another since the early days of AOL Instant Messenger and MySpace. Whether someone is across the country or down the street, it is very simple to catch up with their daily happenings without having to talk to that person.
There have been quite a few studies done on the effects of heavy Facebook usage and depression suggesting that those who have feelings of envy or of being inferior while using Facebook are depressed.
According to studies done by Margaret Duffy, a professor at the Missouri school of Journalism and Edson Tandoc, a doctoral student at the Missouri school of Journalism, the part of Facebook that seems to provoke depression and negative feelings in users is what they call “surveillance watching.” Surveillance watching is excessively keeping tabs on your friends and acquaintances rather than posting and sharing your own personal thoughts.
While we are all guilty of partaking in the activities of lurking, posting and living vicariously through others’ experiences, bouts of Facebook stalking should be good and spaced out. If Facebook is used in excess, it can lead to deteriorated self-worth as well as the development toxic habits of dealing with social relationships.
It is understandable why only passively using Facebook can have a negative impact on our mood. It makes us feel miserable about our life and what we are accomplishing compared to our Facebook friends. When we spend our days comparing ourselves to other people, you’re going to start harboring resentment and risk developing a low self-esteem.
None of us should need a warning label for something as trivial as this, but once we form these toxic habits of constantly comparing ourselves to others and being envious of the happiness in other people’s lives, the habits are hard to break.
A lot of what people post on the Internet is some form of self-praise or humble-brag, but that same person that posts plenty of happy things is also fighting their own battles. Should we be envious of their unpublicized struggles too?
Think of how the people around you feel once these habits of negative thinking take hold. The people around you may feel just as inadequate because their time and presence is not as valuable as some imagined life that wants to be shared so desperately with others.
In order for someone to make using Facebook a positive experience, the responsibility lies within the beholder – the one with the mouse and the keyboard that is capable of typing a happy thought or a one-line zinger.
What people tend to forget is that there is more to life than chasing after some replica of the success and liveliness of other people. Instead of coveting opportunities that were not given to us, we can shut off the screen and become the leading character that prevails in life and love in our own stories.
