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Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

theglobeandmail.com

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Re: Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

#51

Post by nabajour »

chickenfries wrote: post #31
darkerside wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's strange... I thought we were wired as a species to live vicariously, to feel joy when others are blessed, and feel pain when they suffer. You're not the only one that doesn't get that out of Facebook... Why? Is it the quantity? The format? What turns it into a place of covetousness and bitterness?

It's definitely the format and the quantity for me. Seeing an old friend in person and having them tell me about their life and accomplishments, even showing me pictures, does not make me feel the same way. I think it's also the fact that I turn to social media when I'm feeling lonely, so seeing a feed of people at their best moments, on vacation with friends, getting married, having children, etc... makes me feel ev…

I think also that the format is different, the link between people is not the same on social media posts. There is a difference between seeing something interesting, thinking of a friend who might be interested and sending it to him with a personal message like "check this out, it made me think of you, you might like it" and just putting something on display for people to see it, and add like to it to give you some small pride and some endorphin reinforcement of the posting behaviour.

It seems to me that the direction of the thinking goes the other way: in one, you think of a friend and contact him, in the other, you think of yourself, show yourself to the world and people send you likes.

When I thought of this, it seemed to me that social media is often some sort of "narcissistic exposure of oneself" and encourages this type of behaviour from me and I didn't like it. This plus the fact that I didn't like Facebook's behaviour with it's user's data made me delete my account, and I didn't miss it since. If I think of friends, I have other means of contacting them that have a more personal feel.

Re: Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

#52

Post by sysadm1n »

macksd wrote: post #7

As a side note, I'm a little saddened when I see friends apologize for their posts. There's such a reaction to "influencer culture" that people feel like foodgrams and humblebrags are a terrible thing, and in excess they certainly can be, but I think from most people it's a billion times better than strawman political arguments and manipulative media that is far worse for our mental health than just comparing ourselv…

Stick to messenger apps. It's tough, I know, because of network effects, but I managed to convert about 20 friends of mine to use Signal. I deliberately avoid Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp since they can be intercepted easily, and if you're caught making a joke about ISIS, the Whatsapp police can unencrypt your messages which kinda sucks.

Instant messages are more personal and you're not broadcasting your life to 5000 randos, who could potentially weaponize that data if they wanted (potential employer saw your meme about binge drinking & alcohol consumption? Too bad).

Re: Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

#53

Post by marricks »

While I hate FB I also hate headlines like this, why poll the public on something the media affects? Just report what findings are and the effects.

It’s like a couple months ago having headlines saying “more American’s (USA) are afraid of crime rising than any time in the past 20 years!” and crime only rose slightly… it’s the cart leading the horse.

Re: Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

#54

Post by FpUser »

I think in this particular case the problem is not FB but people themselves.

I am Canadian and it does not harm my mental health for a simple reason that I simply do not use FB or other "social media". I really do not give a hoot about somebody else's lifestyle and what they had for dinner.

Re: Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

#57

Post by greenail »

SavantIdiot wrote: post #40
greenail wrote: post #37

The knee jerk reaction to this is likely one to push for regulation but I don't think that is the solution. We should keep in mind that we still have choice, we can choose not to use Facebook. That choice is likely to have a powerful effect on the direction Facebook (or any other platform) takes. My fear is that government control of social media is such a tempting power it would be hard for politicians not abuse it.…

> we can choose not to use Facebook You're looking at this from a western perspective. Some non-western countries are entirely linked by Facebook products. When Facebook went down last week, some people couldn't access their BANKS . You OK with that? That's what Facebook wants: to become something you simply MUST use to survive. It goes deeper in the US as well but not as deep: some restaurants and small shops don't…

> You're looking at this from a western perspective. Some non-western countries are entirely linked by Facebook products. When Facebook went down last week, some people couldn't access their BANKS. You OK with that?

I'm not ok with that at all however I would guess that those decisions are being reevaluated as we speak!

>That's what Facebook wants: to become something you simply MUST use to survive.

But if you choose not to use the platform they will never have the power to make that happen. Anyone in power would be tempted to make themselves indispensable. It is a very human thing and let's not forget how flawed we all are.

>We need legislation to stop Facebook creep, because that "creep" eventually makes it mandatory.

You just move the power from Facebook to the government, it doesn't solve the core problem.

Re: Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

#58

Post by legitster »

ferdowsi wrote: post #41
legitster wrote: post #30

I know Facebook is the great evil, but we really need to start looking at the mental health impacts of all social media. The unhappiest people I know are not on Facebook - they are religiously devoted to Twitter and Reddit. Heck, I'd like to know what sort of damage this post right here is doing to me. This is our generation's smoking but everyone only wants to know how harmful Marlboros are. Edit: Please upvote this…

Reddit is an interesting one. Since it's an anonymous experience, I guess it'd be the same issues with any internet community. It can be stressful to see seemingly abhorrent viewpoints in such concentrated numbers. And it can be stressful when you feel a community is turning against you, even if your connections to that community are extremely tendentious.

I think Reddit is uniquely harmful to its users in several ways, maybe even moreso than Facebook:

- Users get an intense, one-sided parasocial relationship but with no upside of even communicating directly with each other

- The hivemind effect is very real, and using Reddit often gives people a very false sense of superiority of their knowledge on any given topics

- Misinformation is rife. Even outside of the conspiracy hubs. It's amazing how many of the "front page" posts are often misleading or slanted

- Astroturfing and content farming is even more prevalent but with less moderation.

Re: Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

#59

Post by r00fus »

remir wrote: post #55

Social media, ultimately, is information. There is no point in polarizing Facebook as good or bad. It is access to certain types of information and one must learn to discern if it can serve them or not.

Rootkits are information, too. Why do we have anti-malware functionality built into our systems/networks?

Yes, I am am making the analogy that large parts of FB are equivalent to malware.

Re: Most Canadians believe Facebook harms their mental health

#60

Post by lapetitejort »

darkerside wrote: post #17
chickenfries wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you that I wish social media was full of more posts like this, but foodgrams and humble brags as you put it are also one of the reasons I avoid social media these days. Seeing a feed of the best moments of other peoples lives leaves me feeling depressed. "Comparison is the thief of joy." I'm happy for my friends, but seeing it all collected in one place makes my own life feel inadequate. I'm much happier…

It's strange... I thought we were wired as a species to live vicariously, to feel joy when others are blessed, and feel pain when they suffer. You're not the only one that doesn't get that out of Facebook... Why? Is it the quantity? The format? What turns it into a place of covetousness and bitterness?

Because people only share happy moments on Facebook. When you're catching up with someone, you're probably in a "normal" state of mind. They'll share a happy moment and the mood will spike up, then drop to baseline. Then you'll share a sad moment and the mood will spike down, return to baseline, etc. Facebook is always happy, never normal, never sad (unless it's in some way a humblebrag. "Ugh had to put in 20 hours of overtime at my killer job"). Imagine living in the crest of a manic depressive's life, forever. That's Facebook.
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