First Draft
“Facebook undermines well-being rather than enhancing it”, Ethan Kross writes in “Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults”, a scholarly study of the negative psychological effects of Facebook. He recruited 82 Facebook users in the study to observe their Facebook activity, the state of mind, and direct social contacts. They reported that the more people use Facebook, the more their life satisfaction levels decline; the more the participants socialized in the real world, the more positive they are (721). “Why socializing on Facebook has a different effect from socializing in person?”, the author asks in the “Facebook Is Bad For You: Get A Life!” from The Economist.
We are socializing with people on Facebook and in the real world, but what makes the difference is the
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Should Facebook be blamed for the lousy quality of social connection and the decline of well-being? According to its homepage, Facebook is made to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected (FB newsroom). We are all connected, all of us (537), by the telephone poles in the past and Facebook in the present. In the past, the telephone companies fought through the “War on Telephone Poles” (538) to establish the telephone network. Now, we have a handy social networking tool that provides the perfect social interaction that connects users to the community, to the cooperation, and to the government- Facebook. Unlike, the children’s game of telephone depends on the fact that a message passed quietly from one ear to another to another will get distorted at some point along the line (539), Facebook has the share button for people to directly sharing the exact piece of information by links, and by hashtags. Shared among millions of Facebook users, that exact piece of information can spread quickly and widely beyond the traditional means of print and word of
However, as far as I am concerned, the above authors fail to mention the positive effects Facebook has on our lives. Facebook is also very useful. It enables us to keep in touch with friends and family all around the world. A modern journalist, Adam Piore in his article, “What Technology Can’t Change About Happiness,” also argues that “The overall effect of technology is to overcome the constraints of time and location that would have proven insurmountable before” (Piore 9). Piore’s purpose here is to tell people that technology can be a good thing as well. I also believe the same: with the video call function, we are able to see each other’s face and talk with ease. If some people are not familiar with video call, they can even voice message others, making communication easier while reducing the hassle of typing. No doubt, Facebook has greatly changed our lives with both positive and negative effects. And I also believe that it is when we find the balance between technology and relationships can we enhance our happiness level and relationship with people. That is, we need to go out and have face-to-face conversations with people while using technology to help us keep connection with
The idea of needing social networking sites to connect with everyone else knows or may meet have become embedded in American culture throughout recent years, especially among the teenage population. Facebook is easily one of the most popular sites, to the point where it would be considered unusual for someone attending high school to not have a profile on the site. However, does Facebook actually create a stronger connection between people, or does it simply creates the illusion of a healthy social life, while really creating distances a distance between them? Facebook can function as a placebo for some users in the place of genuine, healthy social life. Users with massive amounts of Facebook friends, but sub-par social lives can become pre-occupied
A report by (www.time.com) suggests that the use of Facebook and social media can have positive effects on the human psychology. According to (Park 2014), it is evident that there are negative emotions that can “trigger feelings of envy, worsen our self-esteem, and make us feel lonely.” If something can have a negative tendency, there is also a chance that there is positive ideas that have not yet been addressed. As Park from (www.dailymail.co.uk) continues to discuss that there is too much focus surrounding the negative, she mentions there is also a spread of positivity that is overlooked. News articles from the sources (www.dailymail.co.uk), suggests that the use of Facebook can “spark a natural high leading to a relaxed heart rate and lower levels of stress and tension”. Researchers of Auxologico Italian Institute, the catholic university, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted an experiment with “30 students aged 19-25 monitoring the reactions of their brain, blood pressure, skin conductance, pupil dilation and heart rate.” At the end of the research, they concluded that they found the use of Facebook “brought out reactions suggesting the person found high levels of attractiveness and arousal.” Similarly to the negative effects that was caused through the abusive use of Facebook, this kind of spike in arousal is known to leads to anxiety problems and social awkwardness for some people. Regardless of the fact that this could stimulate positive effects that would mask the negative effects is still inconclusive. Because of this, it is safe to assume that Facebook definitely influences an individual’s psychology, but whether it be positively or negatively inherited is up to the
The effects of social media seems miniscule compared to the real effects that they really intel. He believes that there is a strong correlation between social media usage and the degradation in the quality of performance from students in schools across the United States of America, from the grades of freshman through senior year in high school. It shortens our attention spans, diminishes our vision uses—in terms of far sided, near sided, and peripheral vision—and it’s such a major part of our culture that the majority of us fail to recognize that the very thing that society continuously does is setting them up for failure in the most excruciating ways.
...interaction. Allowing us to communicate with others all over the world. Facebook, one of the main social network sites has been the leader of the pack by continuously innovating in this area. Facebook has proven itself to have a non-deniable negative affect on society. There is correlation effect between Facebook usage and well-being. It is fair to assume that the more you use Facebook the more susceptible you are to becoming unhappy. We should not forget that the way we use Facebook is also an important factor. By actively engaging on their website we reverse the negative impact it may have on our well being. On the other hand by passively browsing we slowly let the social network make us lonelier and more miserable. This is reinforced by the comparison phenomenon whereas seeing others accomplishments creates a sens of envy within us. Further work could made on
“I didn't know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time –Betty White (“Betty White Quotes,” 2014, para. 1).” This quote can be interpreted to fit with several of the social media avenues that many people spend their time on. Day in and day out people post, tweet, share, and pin countless times throughout the world. These different forms of communication were first created for an easier way for people to connect with others. Yet now, so much time is spent on these social sites that it has warped the interactive part and is causing more damage than good. Many are growing a desire and are living for the amount of “likes” they can receive on a post or how many re-tweets they can generate. Instead of going to these outlets to participate in a partial portion of their social lives, people are filling that time with the technological aspect of communication. As White said, this can become an inordinate amount of wasted time and can ultimately grow into further damaging circumstances. These different social media channels can cause emotional harm through disparaging the relationship between friends, conjuring of a narcissistic personality, and the retrogradation of ones self-esteem.
Kross et al. did a research about how Facebook influences our subjective well-being. With now over 936 million daily Facebook users, Facebook is the biggest social media website. They tried to examine the influence of Facebook on the next two parts of subjective well-being: how people feel moment-to-moment, measured five times a day. And how content they are with their life, measured at these same five moments a day. They found that Facebook has a negative influence on both of these variables. If people used Facebook more at a moment in time, they felt worse at the next measuring moment.
environment where increased critical thinking and collaboration are possible. A study done by Annetta and Jackson shows that students who participate in social media as part of a class feel more connected to their peers that those students who do not participate in social media type education (Annetta, Jackson, 2011). Social media allows students to not only group themselves with peers who are similar, but also to enhance and link existing peer groups. In addition to enhancing established peer groups, social media can bridge the diversity that exists in classrooms by establishing a “neutral zone” in which students can interact with one another. For many
Social media is so popular that according to a recent article published by forbes.com, “72% of American adults are currently using social media sites; that figure has gone up 800% in just 8 years”(Olenski). Social networking was originally created to simply reconnect people with old high school pals, but in recent years it has evolved into a completely different operation. When social media first originated it was also intended for adult usage, which has in recent years expanded into the usage of all ages. Social media can create a negative affect on lives because it has been proven to be a dangerous addiction, for it takes away interpersonal relationships that are essential in life, and it has been proven to prevent people from being productive in life.
From "thintastic" blogs to suicide stories, social media has become not only a source of conversation but a gateway to harmful suggestions that many teenagers see and believe to be allowable, when in fact the situations proposed are dangerous to those who attempt them. Statistics show that 20% of anorexic teenagers will die prematurely, and 80% of teenagers who commit suicide are depressed (South). Social media has glorified and brought to attention eating disorders, depression, and suicide among teens that might otherwise not become a statistic in these critical categories.
Cyber social networks are slowly injecting an infection into our social interaction skills. Yes, the cyber social network has increased people’s ability to communicate with friends, families and to publish information to express themselves; but this kind of social interaction doesn’t take place for face to face verbal communication. When people are using social network services, they don’t worry about how their speech affects their appearances and reputations. People get less nervous and freely speak out their minds. But when they need to socialize in real life, they either get too nervous and shy to talk to others, or speak whatever comes up in their minds without pay attention to others’ feelings. Social network services create a barrier between people in real life. Since people using social network services don’t interact personally, they don’t see people’s facial expressions ...
Marche, Stephen. “Is Facebook Making us Lonely? (Cover story)”: 8 (10727825) 309.4 (2012): 68. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
I think Facebook is an great tool to connect with others and share creatively, emotionally, and so on. One can communicate with a long lost friend while listening to their favorite music and reading about the latest gossip within the celebrity world. One may find inspiration through Facebook to teach others or help victims of the latest natural disaster by reading a news article relating to the event. Or one my change their occupation by seeing jobs posted through their Facebook or maybe someone just wants to imitate the newest socialite making headlines from their posts. Either way, one uses Facebook to feel connected with the world around them and interact with people they feel that share this same ideal of digital significance. We are still in the beginning stages of this forever evolving digital culture and I am sure we will witness the next great technological device or new source of new media that will change everything. I feel if things progress in the way they already are we will literally be able to do and see anything and everything within minuets from our mobile devices. We will know and see whatever we want and be connected to whomever we want to socially connect to. I am just waiting for the day when we can actually block people in real life or
Facebook is beneficial to one's social life because they can continuously stay in contact with their friends and relatives, while others say that it can cause increased antisocial tendencies because people are not directly communicating with each other. But some argue that Facebook has affected the social life and activity of people in various ways. With its availability on many mobile devices, Facebook allows users to continuously stay in touch with friends, relatives and other acquaintances wherever they are in the world, as long as there is access to the Internet. Users can upload pictures, update statuses, play games, get news, add people, like and share photos, videos, memes
Facebook can keep you up to date on what is going on around you and around the world. Facebook, along with other social networking sites replace the normal face to face conversations and changes the way we interact with others. One common question that has always been asked when concerning social networking is, “Does it have an affect on one 's psychological well being?” There have been many studies that show that there are both positive and negative effects of Facebook. “Internet causes people to cut off from social interactions by communicating via a socially impoverished medium. The more individuals use FB, the less satisfied they feel about life (Chan 276).” The first study in this article is where they show the relationship between Facebook and how much people use it and how it correlates with their psychological well being. The second study talks about the good and the bad when it comes to Facebook. The third study talks about the empathetic social skills and how it effect those who use Facebook. Then goes on to describe what empathy means, which means the ability to share and understand people and their feelings. And empathy is a good a basis for for good social skills. It is very common for people to portray themselves as someone they are not on Facebook to appear more appealing to their “friends”. They put up