I think ( or at least for me, this is the case ) that there is a threshold. A certain amount of casual usage doesn't make me feel bad, and in fact can be gratifying-- sharing nice photos with family & friends. But very regular or constant use is bad.
I'd pay $5/month for a private network that is just this. My data is mine, no ads, no tracking. Simple, close friends, no addiction triggers.
The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
31–40 of 83 posts
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#32I have been working in this problem space for the past year or so developing a new kind of social media that I think has some merits. Take away the advertisement model, the public nature of discourse, and replace it with meaningful context-driven one-on-one conversation and I think we might have something. My platform can take any topic and disseminate a discussion to as many one-on-one conversations as people who ar…
no fault of yours, but if this is really successful it will be bought by facebook and drowned like a pillow case full of kittens.
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#33I dunno. After moving to the valley and leaving all my friends behind, social media is my one connection to anyone besides my wife. I don't compare myself to people on SM and feel bad. I see my friends and family and generally feel good.
I've noticed that people who use it to share political posts, rants, etc. tend to be some of the most emotionally negative people I've met. (reposting stuff entails low thinking effort)
Whereas people who write little David-Sedaris-like stories about their lives, sometimes with pictures, tend to receive positive emotional benefits. It's like the practice of writing Christmas letters but instead of doing it once a year, you get to do continuously. Sure there is the occasional flexing and humblebragging, but even the most humble among us can't help but share our little life victories on occasion (e.g. Ph.D. graduation, vacations taken, etc.). In my circles, people tend to share stories about their foibles and flaws too, often in a funny way, so it kind of balances things out.
Facebook is an especially great place for introverts to be vulnerable through the medium of the written word. In real life social settings, introverts tend to be crowded out by others and can sometimes struggle to tell their story. When we're in a face-to-face situation, there isn't always the occasion to truly share in detail because the politer ones among us want to avoid hogging all the attention. And even when the spotlight is on us, we don't always remember all the interesting stories to tell.
That's why the written form is so powerful as a tool for self-revelation and vulnerability. It helps deepens relationships. I've had friends who've read my posts come up to me in person to tell me, "I never knew that about you", which actually made it possible to have deeper in-person connection.
I do have a few rules about posting: if I didn't write/create it, I won't post it; and before I post, I ask: "is it kind? is it true?" These rules seem to keep me out of trouble.
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#34I dunno. After moving to the valley and leaving all my friends behind, social media is my one connection to anyone besides my wife. I don't compare myself to people on SM and feel bad. I see my friends and family and generally feel good.
I wonder if being on Facebook reduces your motivation to build new friendships (it does take some work) since it allows you (with little effort) to maintain some form of very limited remote relationship? Maybe without Facebook, we (remote people) would be more motivated to build new local, face to face, and fulfilling friendships?
It didn't for me. I still made friends in real life, and FB helped me deepen some of those friendships by helping me reveal more about myself (I'm an introvert who's much better at writing than talking).
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#35Happy populations would be a catastrophe for capitalism.
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#36I think ( or at least for me, this is the case ) that there is a threshold. A certain amount of casual usage doesn't make me feel bad, and in fact can be gratifying-- sharing nice photos with family & friends. But very regular or constant use is bad.
I'd pay $5/month for a private network that is just this. My data is mine, no ads, no tracking. Simple, close friends, no addiction triggers.
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#37Not only do I disavow Facebook on moral grounds for the political implications of their overreach, but I think that it is a product engineered to prey on human insecurity and profit by perpetuating dysfunctional, harmful behaviour.
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#38I think ( or at least for me, this is the case ) that there is a threshold. A certain amount of casual usage doesn't make me feel bad, and in fact can be gratifying-- sharing nice photos with family & friends. But very regular or constant use is bad.
I'd pay $5/month for a private network that is just this. My data is mine, no ads, no tracking. Simple, close friends, no addiction triggers.
https://blog.photostructure.com/introducing-photostructure/
Disclaimer: I'm the founder.
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#39I dunno. After moving to the valley and leaving all my friends behind, social media is my one connection to anyone besides my wife. I don't compare myself to people on SM and feel bad. I see my friends and family and generally feel good.
But social media ≠ Facebook. I never really used Facebook, and all my friends are (also) on other, smaller, even tiny networks, and some are just in email and video calls.
Through these tiny networks, I actually found new friends.
Re: The more you use Facebook, the worse you feel (2017)
#40Does this still hold up? 95% of my facebook feed is now shared posts that aren’t related to things my friends are doing, and are often posts about products. There is almost nothing I see on facebook that invites social comparison with my facebook friends any more.