Is Social Networking Beneficial to People?

Pantic, Igor. "Online Social Networking and Mental Health." Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, vol. 17, no. 10, Oct. 2014, pp. 652-657. EBSCOhost, DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0070. Doctor Pantic in “Online Social Networking and Mental Health” discusses various studies on Facebook and symptoms of depression, social

We tend to idolize people’s lives based on how happy they seem to appear on social media then believe we must act the same way. With one popular social network, Facebook, gives people the ability to stay connected and share with their friends/family. Having a Facebook page is now an expected part of being online. This online website is surprisingly causing young adults to feel sad,

Social media has taken the world by storm. In the article “When Your Smartphone Is Too Smart for Your Own Good: How Social Media Alters Human Relationships” by Lori Ann Wagner, a researched survey found that 73% of adults online use some type of social networking platform, while 42% use multiple platforms. With social media being seen and used by so many people, is there a problem with it influencing and affecting humans in some sort of way? Many people would argue yes to social media negatively affecting humans, while others disagree to that idea. Social media is seen mostly affecting social relationships between people. Social media should not be used as one’s primary social outlet as it inhibits natural social skills, interferes with face-to-face relationships, and provides empty social connections.

According to Dr. Douglas Kenrick, University of Arizona’s Social Psychology lecturer, Facebook is not bad but the usage of it is what paints an ugly picture. In the article above, emotional aspects seem to be most affected when one uses Facebook in comparing oneself with their peers, friends or relatives. Posts by the defined group outline the seven ways mentioned which are termed bad since it leads to mental health dysfunctions. The use of Facebook to follow others updates leads to a number of psychological hazards such as; gives one a feeling that their life is not neat as of others, one develops envy towards friends achievements, Facebook keeps touch with people who hurt before, it can disenfranchise marriage in the event of stalking. The emotional friction developed through the wrong use often leads to depression. If one can avoid using Facebook in a manner that they will not follow other people’s posts then they are less likely to get stressed up about others and to a great extent avoid mental complications such as depression. According to the study about 80% percent who use Facebook in following others updates with a lot of

Facebook is addicting and people spend a majority of their time on that website hoping for a “like”, so when they don’t get the validation of a “like” they think no one likes them and get upset. Likewise, comparing other’s life to their own increases the negative thoughts running through one’s brain. On an article published on Forbes’s website, Alice G. Walton writes “It turned out that people who logged more Facebook time not only had more depressive symptoms, but that social comparison – in any direction – was the mediator, and for both sexes. In other words, it didn’t matter whether a person was making upward, downward, or neutral social comparison – they were all linked to a greater likelihood for depressive symptoms.” Also, as mentioned above, staying inside all day staring at a screen will negatively affect a person’s mental health. In a short article published in Time Magazine, journalist Alice Park writes “Scientists found that healthy teens who used the Internet obsessively--reporting that they felt moody or nervous when not online--were 2.5 times more likely to become depressed nine months later than less frequent surfers were.” (Park) This information shows that the internet is having a negative effect on the younger

Previous research examined the potential relationship between social comparison, envy, and depression. Appel, Crusius, and Gerlach (2015) utilized a sample of about 130 participants that were divided into two experimental groups of depressed and non-depressed to analyze profiles that were on Facebook. The researchers found that high levels of envy, when the social comparison level is high, could result in depressive symptoms. In the case of Facebook, there is a concept called Facebook Envy. Envy that comes out of gathering information about others on Facebook (Chou & Edge, 2012). Tandoc, Ferrucci, and Duffy (2015) report that Facebook envy has some influence on depression. A person that uses Facebook more may experience higher levels of envy

Is social media beneficial, or has it served as a hindrance to our society? This has been a reoccurring topic for quite sometime now and honestly, I believe that it has been both a "blessing" and a "curse". I am guilty of using social media way too much--it's pretty much a drug if you ask me. No matter how many times I tell myself that I am going to stay off for at least a day, I always find myself slipping in a tweet of some random Drake song lyric (that's pretty sad, I know). Besides personal addiction, using networks like Twitter and Instagram have actually expanded my outlook on different issues and trending topics. I do not really watch TV, so I never watch the news, however, though social media I usually find out all that I need to know.

There have been few studies that have examined a person’s psychological characteristics (e.g. self-esteem, depression, and self-consciousness) and Facebook use (citations). In a previous study conducted by Lee (2014) on how college students compare themselves with others on Facebook, there was a negative relationship between social comparison frequency and self-esteem. However,

According to Dr. Harry Brandt, “Facebook is making it easier to spend more time and energy criticizing their own bodies and wishing they looked like someone else.” Facebook offers the perfect opportunity for teens to compare themselves to their friends and acquaintances. “Studies have shown that the more time young women spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to develop an eating disorder.” (Walton). It is also more likely for a young woman to have a low self-esteem if she spends a lot of time with someone who has the perfect body or qualities that they desire for themselves. Both young women and men have said that they compare themselves to others when they are on Facebook viewing photos or status updates.

here are many different opinions to social networks. Some think it is stupid to share every single thought with the world even if it is very unnecessary, some think that it is the best way to tell your friends what you are doing or to see what they are going to do. People and society is always fighting about whether there are more risks or useful opportunities. Social networking to some extent help people faster recognition for the world. For example, social networking increases communicate with family in other cities. Then you can learned more things, and it strengthens relationships. When social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace were introduced to our society, our social interaction has positive and negative influences in people's life.

On its surface, the effects of using these social networking sites seem fairly harmless. Many scholars state that social networking sites allow close friends or family members to stay in contact with one another and they also allow connections (business or social) to be made with individuals that an individual may not ever come into contact with possible. On the other side of the spectrum, some scholars argue that there are negative effects that can be linked to the use of social networking sites. There have been studies conducted that link the use of social networking sites to mental and psychological issues such as depression, low self-esteem and diminishing social interaction skills.

We are living in the 21st century and technology began to change very promptly. After the Supercomputers were introduced in the 1960s, scientists and engineers started to develop the networks between those supercomputers, and later they discovered the internet, which is a global communication device where people all around the world can meet and talk about pretty much anything. The development of the internet age has enabled people to inhabit a life at a faster speed. In today’s society, many people across the world are accessing the internet multiple times a day. It makes people’s lives very easily from different side. Many people use the internet on their smartphones and check their email, Facebook, bank account balance, etc. via the internet. However, one of these things, most of the people busy with their social networking sites than the others. Social networks are an essential part of today’s Internet and used by more than a billion people worldwide. A social networking website is an online platform that allow people to share ideas and interact with other people, from childhood friends to unknowns. This interaction reveals much information, often including personal information noticeable to anyone who wants to view it. There are a bunch of social networking sites in the world. Most of the people especially teenagers have several accounts in social

Many Facebook users idealize the lives of others who show only parts of it, usually successful situations or events that express happiness. The social network has been called out for making people envious and unsatisfied because of the constant exposure to positive yet misleading highlights of people’s lives. A Stanford University Study led by Ph.D. student Alex Jordan measured user activity of college student’s Facebook profiles. He noticed that they seemed to feel particularly depressed about themselves after logging onto the site and scrolling through others' vacation photos, attractive profile pictures, accomplished bios, and cheerful status updates.

Social networking is an arguable topic; some people think it’s a good tool, but others are worried about the impact it has on people’s lives. Social networking has lots of good points. You can express yourself, showing off your favorite song, or posting pictures of your new outfit. It is harder to feel embarrassed over the internet than in person, so people find it easier to vent their feelings on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Also, you can learn someone’s life story just by checking their page. Their friends, likes and dislikes, relationship status, phone number, address... basically everything. You can share your feelings as well, and it is a good way to relax yourself after a busy day. Moreover, it makes it a lot easier to keep in touch with family and friends, especially if they live far away. You can also make new friends via social media. On the other hand, even though social media has a lot of positives, it has negatives as well. Social media can ruin relationships as people may get jealous if they find out their boyfriend or girlfriend is exchanging messages with others. More importantly, it can be a waste of time as people can visit a site to check on thing and end up spending the whole day ‘behind the screen’ and as a result, not doing anything useful with their lives.

The research conducted by Uysal (2013) investigated the effects of Facebook addiction and mood, in 297 participants. The results indicated a minor relationship between the Facebook addiction and mood. Likewise, Labrague (2014) later also identified similar results, with individuals who spend longer on Facebook being more likely to develop negative mood. When comparing the results from these two pieces of research, to the findings from this study. There are many similarities between them for example they all use students and questionnaires in their designs, therefore should result in similar results between all three studies. Conversely, this is not the case which strengthens the argument for the need for greater research within this area of psychology; to better understand if Facebook usage has an impact on mood.