Facebook’s Impact On Its Users

1917 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of Facebook in socialization

With now over a billion registered users and 500 million users a day, Facebook is definitely the most popular place for social interactions. Due to its increase in use, Facebook is very effective and can be used positively to connect with friends and family. People now can stay connected with others as well as find new people they have common interests with. However, I believe that Facebook can also be overwhelming for some users and can harm them. It can emotionally hurt them, as well as lower their self esteem. Facebook makes many users happy and has positive impacts because it allows them to receive empathy, obtain positive stimuli, receive attention, compare themselves with others, find others with common interests and communicate with their friends. But overall I believe that it causes users to become unhappy because they socially compare themselves with others, they passively use Facebook, they are bored on Facebook, they consume too much media, and they have too many friends on Facebook. In the history of its use, Facebook has been more destructive rather than constructive for social relationships.
Some people believe that Facebook increases your happiness. Since humans are generally social with one another, they interact on an ongoing basis. According to American psychologist Abraham Maslow, “[affiliation] is a basic psychological need that emerge[s] the instant the physiological and primary needs are met” (qtd. in Denti). There are “four underlying psychological reasons” for which affiliation causes happiness (Denti). These needs are;
i. to receive emotional support ii. to obtain positive stimuli iii. to receive attention iv. to compare ourselves to others via a process called social comparison (Denti).
Though Facebook m...

... middle of paper ...

...Apr. 2014.
Hu, Elise. "Facebook Makes Us Sadder And Less Satisfied, Study Finds." NPR. NPR, 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Jaffe, Eric. "We Hate Ourselves For Spending So Much Time On Facebook. So Why Do We Do It?." Fast Company. N.p., 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Konnikova, Maria. "How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy." The New Yorker. N.p., 13 Sep. 2013.
Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Park, Alice. "Being On Facebook Can Actually Make Us Happier." Time. Time, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Parrack, Dave. "The Negative Impact Of Social Networking Sites On Society [Opinion]." MakeUseOf. N.p., 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Parrack, Dave. "The Positive Impact Of Social Networking Sites On Society [Opinion]." MakeUseOf. N.p., 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Shea, Andrea. "Facebook Envy: How The Social Network Affects Our Self-Esteem."WBUR. N.p., 20 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy? By Maria Konnikova

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dr. Marry Marrow has syntheses her findings about Facebook and wrote, “Social media; staying connected.” She mentions that Facebook can bring happiness when you actively connected to our beloveds. Additionally, Facebook gives opportunities to health care as mean to communicate and to instruct communities (Marrow para 3). Social media like Facebook can enhance the relationships between us with organizations. Marry discloses, “There is a certain beauty of staying connected with loved ones and friends, favorite sports teams and performers via social media” (para 2). In other words, she presumes that affixing through Facebook gives off pleasure with one 's family, friends, sports team and performers. Moreover, she introduces that being active on Facebook can give you joyful moments and you won’t be lonely, and nurses can connect with their patients and embrace positive relationships with each

    Read More

  • What Technology Can T Change About Happiness Analysis

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Stephen Marche's Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?

    1662 Words  | 4 Pages

    One’s amount of Facebook reflects how popular one wish to appear online more than how healthy one’s friendship truly is. Constant usage of Facebook allows user to potentially feel like they have a meaningful social life, when in reality, they are missing something. In Stephen Marche’s 2102 article, “Is Facebook making Us Lonely?” he notes that Facebook was introduced to the world in the midst of spreading and intensifying loneliness, an idea to which he greatly attributes Facebook’s appeal and success (Marche 26). Initially, social networking sites seem to be evidence of modern-day social interaction being easier and more convenient than ever.

    Read More

  • Narcissism In Social Media

    1942 Words  | 4 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Comparing Happiness through Social Media

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walton, Alice G. "Jealous Of Your Facebook Friends? Why Social Media Makes Us Bitter." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 22 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Technological Determinism Case Study

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    The article Facebook Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults shows a connection to declining subjective well-being for young adults using Facebook. They find that Facebook is causing negative outcomes due to its invaluable way of creating social connections. Kross (2013) explains that Facebook is unable to fulfill the human need of human interaction, so those who have begun relying on it undermine their true wellbeing. Secondly, the article Fear of Missing Out focuses on how social media platforms including Facebook have created the FOMO phenomena and its effects. Przybylski (2013) exemplifies that users that had ambivalent emotional experiences when using Facebook had high levels of feeling that they were missing out. Their findings showed young adults with high levels of FOMO felt more temptation and would check Facebook after eating, sleeping, walking and during lectures.

    Read More

  • Self-Esteem and Social Media

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    The University of Salford in the UK did a study last year on social media’s effects on self-esteem and anxiety, and reported that 50% of their 298 participants said that their “use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter makes their lives worse”. (Medical Daily) The study also reported that participants said ...

    Read More

  • Facebook Effects in Socialization

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this day and age, many individuals simply cannot go without some sort of socialization. Specifically speaking, most participate in online social networking sites. The most popular and used one is commonly known as Facebook. Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. By 2007, Facebook had over 21 million users, adding up to 1.6 billion page views every single day. The typical user spends over twenty minutes per day on Facebook and two thirds of the users log in every day at least once. It is not questionable as to why many people have a Facebook account. Facebook is generally efficient, easy for socialization, and not difficult to manage. Most organizations are affiliated with Facebook, as “almost 22,000 organizations had Facebook directories,” as of November 2006. A year after that in 2007, Facebook was named the seventh most popular website (Ellison 1). However, with anything well known, many oppose to using Facebook and hold criticism against the popular network. There are many flaws in the website and the relationships it starts online. Facebook is risking dangerous activities, ignoring privacy laws, and demeaning healthy socialization.

    Read More

  • Impact of Social Media on Society

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    This research paper is going to be about how social media impacts an individual. Then it is going to be about how much of an impact it has on businesses. Afterwards, we are going to go over the pros and the cons of social media in society. Then this research paper is going to conclude on where social media is heading towards in the near future and so on. Social media can impact the life of an individual at many levels.

    Read More

  • Modern Communication: Social Networks

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    Their availability on social networks makes news more accessible. From a motivational perspective, people use social networks to fulfill a variety of social needs, including association, self-expression, and self-presentation. Consequently, using a social network can enhance self-esteem and positively affect well-being (Gonzales and Hancock 2011; Valkenburg, Peter, and Schouten 2006).... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • Social Media and its Impact

    1467 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marche, Stephen. “Is Facebook Making us Lonely? (Cover story)”: 8 (10727825) 309.4 (2012): 68. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Facebook

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    First of all, Facebook is a social network, which means it connects people around the world, allows us to make new friends around the world, builds more relationships, brings some new colors to life. It is very beneficial for

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Social Media

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hoover, Lisa. "How Social Networking Has Changed Society." PCWorld. 7 Apr. 2009. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Negative Effects Of Social Media Essay

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even though people have different opinions on whether social media has a positive or negative impact on society, it can be said that social media has a positive effect on society as a whole because it lets people communicate with each other easily, it has been said to improve education among children, and has helped improve the economy in the world. One of the main reasons why social media has positively affected our society is because of how it has made communicating with people much easier. “Today, four out of five active internet users maintain at least one social media profile” (Moe, 3). Using these websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and etc., people talk about everything with anyone from what they are planning to do, to what they are eating and much more (Moe, 24). We can also send private messages to other users of these websites about personal matters that you just want to discuss with them.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Social Media Essay

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about Facebook’s Impact On Its Users

Open Document