Quitting Facebook

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Facebook is an online social networking website that grosses over 1 billion active users on a monthly basis. It is the largest and most active social networking site on the planet (Smith, 2013). According to Smith (2014), “Facebook is used by 57 percent of all American adults and 73 percent of all those ages 12-17.” Smith also claims that 64 percent of the users visit the site daily. The sites daily traffic continues to grow and is now reaching nearly 500 million users a day and the frequency of use for each individuals member is also increasing. As the overuse of the site becomes common behavior, it is accompanied with a negative impact on the mental and emotional health of its users.
When in an attempt to satisfy the basic human need for social interaction result in positive emotions, Facebook frequently has the opposite effect on quality of life and does damage to the users self-esteem. When using Facebook excessively on a daily basis, users tend to have a lower self-esteem relative to those who use the site moderately or not at all.
Recent studies show that the use of Facebook is directly associated with low self-esteem and depression. One study in particular headed by Professor of Psychology, Ethan Kross in 2013 monitored 82 volunteers ranging in age from late teens to early twenties. The volunteers agreed to have their Facebook activity monitored while they reported their moods and feelings via text and filled out questioners. The study found that the amount of Facebook use was directly related to the moods reported by the volunteers; the more they used Facebook the worse they felt and the lower they rated their own self-esteem. Even more surprising, is at the end of the two week study, participants who used Facebook the mo...

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...etrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/01/22/jealous-of-your-facebook-friends-why-social-media-makes-us-bitter/
Krasnova, H. (2013) Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction? Retrieved fromhttp://warhol.wiwi.huberlin.de/~hkrasnova/Ongoing_Research_files/WI%202013%20Final%20Submission%20Krasnova.pdf
Woollaston, V. (2013) Mail Online: Facebook users are committing 'virtual identity suicide' in droves and quitting the site over privacy and addiction fears. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2423713/Facebook-users-committing-virtual-identity-suicide-quitting-site-droves-privacy-addiction-fears.html
Gonsalves A. (2013) CSO Online: Facebook legal skirmish highlights user privacy risks. Retrieved by http://www.csoonline.com/article/2133909/privacy/facebook-legal-skirmish-highlights-user-privacy-risks.html

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