For some college students, their online social reputations are more important than their real life reputations. Indeed—now more than ever, college students are sharing more and becoming more involved in building a life revolving around a social networking site known as Facebook. Once described as a “rapidly expanding phenomenon” (Muise, Christofides & Desmarais, 2009) Facebook has since become an unavoidable part of many college student’s daily social interactions (Joinson, 2008; Subrahmanyam et al., 2008; Youn et al., 2013). Similar to the rise of Internet usage before it, the ever-increasing usage of Facebook has been heavily scrutinized by researchers as having potentially negative effects on college student’s mental and physical …show more content…
Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking site, states to have 829 million daily active users (www.facebook.com) with a geographical spread of approximately 81.7% of all Facebook users located outside of the United States and Canada. Facebook has been called a “rapidly expanding phenomenon” (Muise, Christofides & Desmarais, 2009) that is changing the paradigm of social interaction between young adults. Pew Internet and American Life Project data showed that in the United States, approximately 71% of all adults that utilize any form social networking are Facebook users (Duggan and Smith, 2013). With such prevalence in the lives of its users, it can be said Facebook has changed the way that people communicate in everyday life. Facebook is both a topic of research and a platform for participant recruitment for modern psychological research. Many studies have been conducted regarding the idea that relying on social interaction through Facebook and the idea of a social networking oriented world can have significant impacts on our emotional and physical well-being. Depression has been one of the most heavily researched topics when dealing with Facebook usage. Other past research has focused on the question of why Facebook and other social networking platforms have become so prevalent in today’s society. Facebook, due to its diverse user demographic and geographic distribution, as well as its ease of access and heavy incorporation into
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
his talents initially to take stabs at other students by creating “Facemash” with fellow Harvard
Since its inception back in 2004, Facebook has represented a huge potential market for social media efforts by having over a billion users and that number is going to continue to grow every year very fast. But in reality, behind the scenes a number of researchers have shown proof of Facebook being connected to mental health issues like major depression. In Online Social Networking and Mental Health, there is a passage that explains “As it is thought that Facebook may be one of the factors influencing the development of depressive symptoms, it is also, assumed that certain characteristics of online behavioral may be predictive factors in depression identification and assessment. Today, it is clear that SNS (social network sites) such as Facebook can be useful in the early detection of depression symptoms among users” (Pantic). Today, Researchers have been calling this new phenomenon “Facebook depression,” which is
Firstly, there have been significant links between our online presence and other aspects of our mental health, which has inspired the subject matter of many recent research studies around the world. There are many psychological and physical factors that affect our mental well-being due to the impact of social media. Depression and Body Dysmorphia being the leading causes, due to the content the individuals are exposed to while online. Even though researchers coined the correlation between social media use and depression as complex. Data was collected from a sample of 340 first year college students, and the findings were that the increase use of Facebook have been associated with higher levels of loneliness. Also the extensive use of Facebook has been associated with higher rates of disordered eating and body image insecurity.
Social media is the term that is used to refer to applications and websites that allow people to interact and stay connected (Nations, 2016). Although, the creation of social networking sites is relatively recent, it has rapidly become a prominent part of billions of people’s lives worldwide. For example, between 2012 and 2016 the number of monthly active Facebook users increased by 83% (Statista, 2016). As a result, investigating the effects of social media on people’s psychological wellbeing has become a popular area of research. However, the combination of findings from these studies are inconclusive as to whether social media has a negative or a positive impact on our psychological wellbeing and because social media is so widely used this is an important question to address. Huppert (2009) stated that “Psychological wellbeing is about lives going well. It is the combination of feeling good and functioning effectively” (p. 137). This essay will focus on Facebook, in particular, as it’s the most widely used social network and has over 1.5 billion monthly active users (Smith, 2016). It will discuss research that has investigated the effects of Facebook on life satisfaction, academic performance and psychiatric disorders which are all related to psychological wellbeing. It will conclude that research mostly suggests that social media, in particular Facebook, is harmful to our psychological wellbeing.
Facebook is a social networking site that is free of charge for its users. It allows the individual the opportunity to stay connected with friends and family, sharing updates, photographs and user status. The company grosses more than $1 billion per quarter in advertising revenue and online games (Ritholtz, 2014). In this respect, Facebook is much more that a social network. It is a versatile and sophisticated corporation that has revolutionized the way people share their lives and communicate. Their mission is “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the
The purpose or hypothesis of this study addresses the anatomy of the Facebook network, communication behaviors and network composition, private messages and public communication, and the psychological implications of Facebook use.
The advances of the Internet have transformed the way people live, behave, and think through the constant access of information and communication that it provides. The internet has reshaped other media outlets such as radio and television and also created new media or social networking sites. These social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have popularized tremendously within the past decade. These sites offer different forms of interactivity, making it so users can connect with anyone publically. Reporting what you are thinking or doing throughout the day has become a social norm. It is our responsibility to question these new habits and norms to see if it can cause harm in any aspect of the users’ lives. Facebook is one of the most popular networking sites in the world and was the first social media site to reach 1 billion registered users. They still maintain a steady number of 1.7 billion monthly active users (Statista, 2016). Although there are many positive effects of Facebook, many researchers are concerned with possible consequences or negative psychological
Social networking sites are increasing as a communication tool of choice with 58% of individuals using social network sites at least once a week, an increase of 14% from the previous year. Notably, 100% of individuals surveyed under the age of 24 spend time online (Kowalski et al., 2006).
A matter of contention prevalent within the media, several studies have shown that social networking – Facebook in particular – can have detrimental effects on our wellbeing. Researchers from the University of Michigan assessed Facebook usage over a fortnight and found that the more people that used it, the more negativity they experienced concerning their day-to-day activities; as well as over time, incurring higher levels of dissatisfaction with their life overall.
Facebook is one of the most used Social Media used by college students, and high school students. As stated in the article “The Reasons for Non-Use of Social Net-working Websites by University Students” , “Facebook’s statistics report that there are 901 million monthly active users who create
For this research proposal, I would study the link between social networking site Facebook and depression among older adolescents around the age of 18 and 20. For this proposal, I will look at four scholarly articles, proposal three research questions and have three hypotheses for my research questions based on how social networking sites like Facebook use correlates with a decrease in mood and increase in depression.
Facebook is currently largest social networking site in the world based on monthly unique visitors – attracting 130 million unique visitors every day (Alexa Inc. 2012). The site’s popularity exploded in 2007 and it bypassed its social networking rival, MySpace, in April 2008 (Phillips 2007). Over the last few years Facebook has impacted people’s social lives in various ways. With its availability on modern smart phones, Facebook enables users to continuously stay in touch with friends, relatives and peers wherever they are in the world as long as they have internet access. It can also group people together who share beliefs and interests and has been known to even reunite lost family members and friends through its enormous social reach
At any given time of day, anyone can access an abundant amount of information at the click of a button. Men, women, kids, teenagers, adults and even the elderly are learning how to use the internet to their advantage. Among all the benefits the internet has provided to us, online communication has proven to be the most beneficial. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have made it easy for everyone to stay in contact with each other. Regardless of how far apart a family member or friend is, everyone is just one click away. If someone is not having a good day, they can share their feelings with everyone in a matter of seconds. These social networking sites have become quite popular among adolescents. They allow teens to stay more connected with their friends outside of school. Now teens have become more obsessed with their friends Facebook or Twitter status than engaging in outdoor activities like football or
Facebook, a social networking website, has changed the way people communicate with each other. A social networking website is an online platform that allows users to create a public profile and interact with other users on the website. Facebook has even changed our most personal and private conversations and how they are conducted around the world. Since the internet’s birth in 1983, this trend of online communication has been growing. Created in 2004, now registered with more than one billion participants, Facebook’s user numbers surpass even the top four social networking websites combined. According to Wikipedia statistics, Instagram has 300 million registered users, LinkedIn has 200 million users, Classmates.com has 50 million users, and Flickr has 32 million registered users. To be further convinced of the claim that Facebook indeed changes the way we communicate, you would only need to create your own Facebook account and start participating in their social networking experience. Technology and internet usage is fused into every aspect of our society including the style of communication. The launch of Facebook in 2006 also enabled other devices such as touch phones, interactive tablets, and even advanced cars with their own networking capabilities starting in 2007. Facebook is a multibillion-dollar company and is highly recognized for connecting more people than other networks. Facebook’s long-term success can be attributed to providing entertainment, world news, and