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Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

#11

Post by eksith »

squozzer wrote: post #4

Facebook in some ways is the ultimate HS or college party. Everyone has a front to present. So it's not surprising that it might make a lot of people feel bad because the reader is seeing everyone's outside and comparing it to their inside.

Very true. In HS or college, how much you'll enjoy it depends on your perspective and what you expect from the crowd as well. I never mingled with the shallow crowd (boy, that really sounds pompous; but it's true) because I knew I wouldn't get much out of that experience.

But like HS and college, Facebook has its own variety of groups you mingle with and those you avoid with a 10 foot pole.

That said, I avoid all of Facebook with a 10 foot pole except for the occasional cross post with my blog.

Re: Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

#13

Post by karpathy »

82 participants. 3 participants did not complete. 1 person excluded as inconsistent > 4SD.

Study comes down to: Participants were text-messaged 5 times per day between 10am and midnight over 14-days.

""" Each text-message contained a link to an online survey, which asked participants to answer five questions using a slider scale: (1) How do you feel right now? (very positive [0] to very negative [100]; M = 37.47, SD = 25.88); (2) How worried are you right now? (not at all [0] to a lot [100]; M = 44.04, SD = 30.42); (3) How lonely do you feel right now? (not at all [0] to a lot [100]; M = 27.61, SD = 26.13); (4) How much have you used Facebook since the last time we asked? (not at all [0] to a lot [100]; M = 33.90, SD = 30.48); (5) How much have you interacted with other people “directly” since the last time we asked? (not at all [0]to a lot [100]; M = 64.26, SD = 31.11) """

So we have a shaky self-reported study with low (and relatively homogeneous) sample size where it is fairly clear what the researchers are after, spun into an article with link bait title about how Facebook makes you sad. This is news now.

Re: Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

#15

Post by regis »

I feel like most people don't consider that the content people post on Facebook is posted because the person wants everyone to see it... They wouldn't post about the absolutely mundane stuff that we all go though every day unless it's significant in someway. This is why it can be depressing, because you're looking at the best moments of hundreds of your friends' lives and you're just sitting there at the computer.

But when you post something interesting others feel the exact same way you did when they posted something interesting. Sort of a weird situation.

Re: Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

#16

Post by hondje »

stephengillie wrote: post #8
manishsharan wrote: post #3

I can relate to this study --- even though I am not a young adult like the subjects of this study. I stopped using Facebook a few months ago because I couldn't handle how it made me feel. I am bootstrapping a start-up ,working insane hours and depriving my family of the comforts/luxuries that I could have afforded when I had a corporate job. I am really happy that my friends are spending their summer vacation at reso…

Going on Facebook, I see how everyone's social life is better than mine. Going on Hacker News, I see how everyone's startup is doing better than my failed attempt. Going on Hackaday, I see how everyone's working on cooler projects than mine. The only place I feel good about myself is at work.

Gotta learn to love yourself, hombre, because you're stuck with you

Re: Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

#17

Post by adamio »

stephengillie wrote: post #8
manishsharan wrote: post #3

I can relate to this study --- even though I am not a young adult like the subjects of this study. I stopped using Facebook a few months ago because I couldn't handle how it made me feel. I am bootstrapping a start-up ,working insane hours and depriving my family of the comforts/luxuries that I could have afforded when I had a corporate job. I am really happy that my friends are spending their summer vacation at reso…

Going on Facebook, I see how everyone's social life is better than mine. Going on Hacker News, I see how everyone's startup is doing better than my failed attempt. Going on Hackaday, I see how everyone's working on cooler projects than mine. The only place I feel good about myself is at work.

We see what we want to see. Look for the good, it'll change your pov almost immediately.

Re: Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

#18

Post by rfnslyr »

stephengillie wrote: post #8
manishsharan wrote: post #3

I can relate to this study --- even though I am not a young adult like the subjects of this study. I stopped using Facebook a few months ago because I couldn't handle how it made me feel. I am bootstrapping a start-up ,working insane hours and depriving my family of the comforts/luxuries that I could have afforded when I had a corporate job. I am really happy that my friends are spending their summer vacation at reso…

Going on Facebook, I see how everyone's social life is better than mine. Going on Hacker News, I see how everyone's startup is doing better than my failed attempt. Going on Hackaday, I see how everyone's working on cooler projects than mine. The only place I feel good about myself is at work.

Everyone publishes the awesome shit they do. Nobody publishes constantly things they suck at, things they failed at, things they won't attain.

Re: Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

#19

Post by MartinCron »

manishsharan wrote: post #3

I can relate to this study --- even though I am not a young adult like the subjects of this study. I stopped using Facebook a few months ago because I couldn't handle how it made me feel. I am bootstrapping a start-up ,working insane hours and depriving my family of the comforts/luxuries that I could have afforded when I had a corporate job. I am really happy that my friends are spending their summer vacation at reso…

Interesting, I don't normally think of Facebook as being about conspicuous consumption and provider guilt. Now I worry that when I post pictures of doing awesome (often expensive) things with my kids that I'm making people feel worse about themselves.

Re: Facebook use 'makes people feel worse about themselves'

#20

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

diminoten wrote: post #14

They should have written a browser plugin. They might not have gotten the results they were looking for, though.

Apart from the ethical (i.e. review boards) objections that would arise from that idea, that's actually a really good way to run a study.

When I still worked in academia, that was something I wanted to do. Amusingly enough, that research is probably easier to do as an independent researcher, especially if you don't plan on publishing in the peer-reviewed literature.

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