Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
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Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#2[deleted]
Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#3Facebook is playing a very dangerous game by not allowing people full control of their feeds and even algorithmically sorting things. That's different from just "social media", it's a specifically Facebook way of doing things
Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#4I think this type of depression that is supposedly a response to social media is simply a symptom of something that would have manifested itself with or without being plugged in.
One might write a novel on the subject, but humans are easily dissatisfied. We chase after things we think we want, but are really unfulfilling. Many of us lack a true calling. We travel to exotic places and buy expensive things only to realize that the hedonistic treadmill is real.
Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#5I think this type of depression that is supposedly a response to social media is simply a symptom of something that would have manifested itself with or without being plugged in. One might write a novel on the subject, but humans are easily dissatisfied. We chase after things we think we want, but are really unfulfilling. Many of us lack a true calling. We travel to exotic places and buy expensive things only to real…
[deleted]
Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#6I think this type of depression that is supposedly a response to social media is simply a symptom of something that would have manifested itself with or without being plugged in. One might write a novel on the subject, but humans are easily dissatisfied. We chase after things we think we want, but are really unfulfilling. Many of us lack a true calling. We travel to exotic places and buy expensive things only to real…
Maybe your theory is compatible with the idea that some ways of using social media simply turn up the speed knob on the hedonic treadmill.
Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#7I'm all for burning Facebook to the ground but the rise in the use of antidepressants started well before modern social media.
It does look associated with alienation, so does travelling alone, but social media use is probably a result of loneliness, an attempt to connect however feeble, not its cause.
Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#8Facebook is playing a very dangerous game by not allowing people full control of their feeds and even algorithmically sorting things. That's different from just "social media", it's a specifically Facebook way of doing things
I totally agree. And we're the ones paying the price of their actions.
Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#9I think this type of depression that is supposedly a response to social media is simply a symptom of something that would have manifested itself with or without being plugged in. One might write a novel on the subject, but humans are easily dissatisfied. We chase after things we think we want, but are really unfulfilling. Many of us lack a true calling. We travel to exotic places and buy expensive things only to real…
You're right. This isn't new. It started way back with advertising. The problem is the scope it's getting right now--we no longer have an active role on this process.
Re: Depression, Self-Identity and Reality: Living in a Story Created by Facebook
#10I'm all for burning Facebook to the ground but the rise in the use of antidepressants started well before modern social media. It does look associated with alienation, so does travelling alone, but social media use is probably a result of loneliness, an attempt to connect however feeble, not its cause.
I agree that other forces are at work behind the rise of loneliness and alienation in modern society, but I think Facebook exacerbates these problems.
Facebook ultimately encourages you to carry out social interactions online with people who aren't physically present. It's very easy and convenient and next thing you know your eyes are glued to your phone so often that it starts to replace physical interactions. You go out and spend half your time texting instead of talking to the people you're with, or maybe you stop going out at all.
But we are animals after all, not buckets of bits, and physical presence matters. It directs attention, priorities, investment, it gives people unique opportunities to bond. Anyone who's had a long distance relationship can tell you that they're fraught with challenges because you just don't get to spend a lot of time together. So maybe socializing in cyberspace, while it has advantages, simply doesn't have all the benefits it has in meatspace.
For my part I now put meatspace connections first, and aside from work, my calendar revolves around meeting other actual humans in person. Even if we don't share all the same interests, maybe even if they get on my nerves a little, I lived most of my social life online for a long time, and I like meatspace better. My Facebook usage waxes and wanes and I don't feel it makes me depressed--but if Facebook relationships were all I had, I'd be practically suicidal.
I think that FB is a crutch and a mild vice. And like all vices, the solution is to replace them with something positive.