Study Says Facebook Can Be A Downer

by Robert Wilkinson

It seems that University of Michigan research points to Facebook users feeling worse about themselves the more they are on Facebook.

In a LA Times story by Geoffrey Mohan I found via McClatchy titled Facebook is a bummer, study says, we read

Facebook is a bummer that makes us feel worse about our lives, according to new research.

Facebook users in a study led by the University of Michigan wound up feeling worse about themselves after two weeks, and their moment-to-moment mood darkened the more they browsed the social medium. It didn't seem to matter how big their network was, how supportive they thought their friends were, nor why they went to Facebook in the first place, according to the study published online Wednesday...

"We were able to show on a moment-to-moment basis throughout the day how people's mood fluctuated depending on their Facebook usage," said University of Michigan social psychologist Ethan Kross, lead author of the study.

"We measured lots and lots of other personality and behavioral dimensions, like, for example, frequency of Facebook use," Kross said. "But none of the factors that we assessed influenced the results. The more you used Facebook, the more your mood dropped."

The article goes on to say the study is the first to be done over time, with the mood of participants measured 5 times a day for two weeks. There were other interesting results that were found, including how self-esteem went up or down, degrees of life satisfaction and social trust, envy, and loneliness, and the negative effect of Facebook on happiness.

By all means go check out the original article to find more. And while I’m not advocating anyone stop using FB, check in with yourself from time to time to feel how happy or unhappy you are while hanging out in social media. And if you’re feeling that you’re on a bummer, please redirect your mind to find more enjoyable things to do. While FB is okay for what it is, it should not be bringing us down.

© Copyright 2013 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Debra]

Wow, this is very interesting Robert. One thing I find when I spend too much time on FB is that I become exasperated with all the "advice" and "inspirational" bullets that fly off the screen at me. Sometimes it even leaves me feeling angry. Enough already! This research is proof that I am not alone. Time to back away from it a bit I think. Thanks for sharing.

[tasha]

Since I deleted my facebook I feel incredibly more content with my own life. Tenuous bonds and superficial image updates be gone!

--Tasha

[Priyanka Majumdar]

i see facebook as flowbook, making a huge lots of connects in disparate places i wouldn't perhaps be making otherwise..also a platform or any tool i feel is what use i make of it. a very close friend switched off her fb years back and is more creative and balanced after it. she used to feel sad while on it.:) i do feel that i get sucked up in loads of stuff on fb when i intend to be there just for say 15 minutes. so i need to get a balance there.

"check in with yourself from time to time to feel how happy or unhappy you are while hanging out in social media. And if you’re feeling that you’re on a bummer, please redirect your mind to find more enjoyable things to do. While FB is okay for what it is, it should not be bringing us down." i agree. and perhaps not only social media, the online world in general. also, people have their own ways of engaging with anything. as long as one knows what works for one and what doesn't, it's cool. thanks.

[Diana]

Yes, read that in Psychology Today about a year ago. Personally, after reconnecting with some classmates on FB, I felt a lot less lonely. The thing that brings me down is all the bad news coming in (Huff. Post, etc.) highlighting the awfulness of people in general & our fearless leaders in particular. Some of this stuff is too awful to believe!

[Robert]

Hi all - It seems there's a wide experience with FB. Some get great connections, while others are besieged by too much information. As I noted over at FB, from what I read it seemed there were mixed results, with some types of self-esteem unaffected by FB. I participate to connect with others on a more regular basis, but I spend relatively little time here wondering what's going on in everyone else's reality. I get plenty of that in emails. It does promote connections among those with similar interests, but I can also see how one could lose one's life spending too much time here. Other places too...

It also occurs to me that if our self-esteem is not dependent on any of the variables measured by FB (i.e., we ARE happy, have a fulfilling life, spiritual practice, work in the world, etc.) then we won't become unhappy via FB any more than we would simply surfing the web. It may also have something to do with our level of maturity, expectations of others, etc.

And yes, Diana, it seems there's a non-stop drumbeat of bad news out there. That in itself is wearying....

[Debbie]

I enjoyed some of the time for the opportunity to communicate with loved ones over seas more often, but ther was a downer side and gave it away a couple of years ago, without regret. However here is a good link to a great explanation for some of the draw backs with social media, which has helped a few I know to realise what they were actually doing by being on it a lot, if anyone interested.

http://www.upworthy.com/loneliness-illustrated-so-beautifully-you-will-need-to-tell-someone?c=ufb1

[Micheline]

There's a positive and negative manifestation to social media. I hardly spend time on facebook. Its more for my music now. I feel the real reason people are unhappy. At least in my opinion the thing that is really happening (and the actuzl underlying cause) ti all of using computers or other gadgets to communicate with each other is because we are just interfacing with machines and spendi ng less time with each other face to face! So as a French friend of mine calls it le fesse (bum) book in french. Fesse sounds like face but with a short e sound. Haha and tg
Hats exactly what it is

[caliban]

Robert, your comment, 'losing one's life' . . . that connection. To life? To creating? Maybe I don't need that answer, but it is there, that thing. Venus? Stop it already I say to myself.

[Robert]

Hi Debbie - Thanks for the link. I suspect spending too much time in front of a computer may have other effects we're not noticing.

Hi Micheline - I agree that some personal time together is much better than even video conferencing. There's just something about the human touch that cannot be replicated by anything else.

Hi caliban - Saturn. Losing time while feeling lonely is Saturn. It can involve other planets, depending on which dimension of the bardo one's mind and feelings get lost in. However, all "enslavement" to externals that create loneliness is Saturn. It's one of the ultimate ego challenges, since we're as surrounded by life as a fish by water, but our 5 senses and minds get in our way of direct experience. Only our non-integrated personality can lose its life by wasting time spinning wheels and feeling badly about it. Since our Highest Self wants only to grow, anything that is mindlessly repetitive going over ground we've already covered is "losing one's life."

[Iris]

Robert,
You wrote: "Since our Highest Self wants only to grow, anything that is mindlessly repetitive going over ground we've already covered is 'losing one's life.'"
That has many layers packed into it.
Thank you so much.

[AlwaysHope]

I think FB is an effective tool for all the extroverts out there, being an introvert myself and content with own company most of the time, guess that makes me "free" of this phenomenon. I've never been comfortable storing info about my life and trusting FB or any social network site for that matter. The internet by nature creates this illusion of convenience for communication over global public networks, kind of scary when you really think about that especially as the world gets more "nervous" these days but seduction is part of the beast so to speak...

[Micheline]

Hi Robert, tis true which is why I really want to make some positive changes to my life. I must leave Japan I think for one. I must live outside of the city for two and for three I need to find a way to make my music full time. Hmmm

I am not living the most healthy of lifestyles here as well and I had been looking at my relocated chart and well I knew this a while back but all my angles are mutable. My Saturn is in the 12th and my stellium in virgo respectively mars/uranus/pluto all in the 7th. I still have not met the right person for me. I just don't feel that will happen here. I think there are not enough of the right vibes. I don't regret coming here. It has been an honor to live in such a wonderful crazy place but well Fukushima and not being able to swim in the ocean here are tipping the scales for me.

[caliban]

'Going over ground already covered'. I am doing that somewhat now in my sleep time dreaming. It could be that saturn uranus septile aspect you wrote about. But it is working to release some things and giving me new perspective. It's a trip! The integration seems to involve correlation for me. But then again it's irrational right?

Hi Micheline, keep truckin. I have enjoyed your time in japan, too. Did a dance tour in japan long ago and far away in my dancin days. Thanks for sharing.

[Jean]

Hi Robert, it wasn't until I re-read "Scripts People Live" by Stiener and the work of Dr Berne, that I had that "oh-duh!" moment. Never a big fan of FB ( moon in scorpio), I thought, how ingenius of Mr Z to build a multi-million dollar empire based on transactional analysis. The Jungian's should be so lucky!