Facebook Depression

As I was listening to a St. Louis news program last week, I heard a small interview with local psychologist, Kelly DeVere, discussing how Facebook can have a negative impact on users. Her focus was mostly on women, who typically upload more photos of themselves to boost their self-esteem. However the desired result of having people write positive comments about these images doesn’t usually occur. In fact, seeing these photographs leads other users (also typically female) with low self-esteem to write negative comments about the women posting pictures, which reinforces the cycle of low self-esteem. While the news report was focused on women, the report led me to recent studies which have prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics to develop social media guidelines to help avoid “Facebook depression” among teens and young adults (Berando n.pag.).

There is still no conclusive data to show that social media sites actually cause depression. However, if someone is already depressed, Facebook and other social media sites can worsen the depression. Dr. Gwenn O’Keefe, the author of the guidelines, is concerned with “the false social utopia media can create” (Steele n.pag.). If a withdrawn, lonely teenager is seeing pictures of his/her classmates having fun at parties or smiling in large groups, it can make that teen feel worse about his current state. Even if there aren’t pictures, statuses often boast the fun and happiness someone is experiencing. The results of all of the inflation of “fun-times” are feelings of increased loneliness from those who are excluded. Ironically enough, most statuses aren’t accurate. Georgetown University student Tommy Petriccione said that, “There are kids who put up statuses like ‘partying tonight’ just to look cool” (Berardo n.pag.).

But those depressed teens who are sitting home alone on a Friday night have no idea these statuses are false and feel bad about themselves for being excluded from the fun or make them isolated from former friends or significant others. Just last week a student came to me for advice. Her boyfriend of two years had ended the relationship and she was suffering her first real heartbreak. The more she talked the more I realized that Facebook was preventing her from moving on. First there was the public response to their break-up as her relationship status went from “In a Relationship” to “Single.” But even worse was the constant streaming of information of what her ex was doing , who he was talking to, and pictures of him having fun. The obvious answer was for her to block him or end their “Facebook friendship,” yet that hadn’t even occurred as a possibility to her and I’m sure is something her parents have no clue that she is dealing with.

In the past much of the media spotlight regarding social networking has been about cyber bullying. Bullying, regardless of the format, typically is the result of self-esteem, as the bullies put others down to make themselves feel better. Recent high profile teen suicides resulting from bullying on Myspace and Facebook have already shown us how dangerous this platform can be. It is important for parents (and educators) to be aware of the less obtrusive bullying resulting from social networks’ groups, friends’ lists, and photo tags. Teens don’t need to tell someone he’s a loser; they can prove it on Facebook. As Eric Steinman stated in his recent article, “Children and teens…have become progressively more and more reliant upon virtual dealings to cement and substantiate their social lives…” (n.pag.). How you spend your weekends is now public domain, and to pretend to have a social life requires the aforementioned exaggerated statuses.

As a result of the American Academy of Pediatrician’s new guidelines, “pediatricians are urging parents to educate themselves about how social media work to narrow the ‘participation gap’ that separates them from their tech- savvy kids” and even ask their children how much time they’ve spend online that day (Steinman n.pag.). It seems necessary then that librarians would and should be the ones to help educate parents about these media, and also educate young users about their possible effects. Perhaps if depressed kids realized how Facebook is affecting them or that many of their peers who are boasting about their “good times” are actually feeling the same way as them, it could help alleviate the likelihood of “Facebook depression.” Teens need to look inside themselves to find feelings of positive self-worth instead of seeking validation from the social media.

Once they have those internal feelings for self-worth, social media sites can actually be a positive forum. Teens with feelings of high self-esteem feel good using Facebook because it “can enhance feelings of social connectedness of among well-adjusted kids” (Steele n.pag.). Just as negative comments reinforced negative feelings, positive comments from others reinforce those positive feelings. With teens logging more and more hours on Facebook, it is important that they and their parents are aware of all of these effects – the positive and the negative.

Sources

Berardo, Mike. “Social Media May Worsen Depression.” The Hoya. Georgetown University. 1 Apr. 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2011. http://www.thehoya.com/news/social-media-may-worsen-depression-1.2137258

Steele, John. “ ‘Facebook Depression’ Could Make Teen Self-Esteem Worse, Researchers Say.” Online Journal. 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2011. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_7473.shtml

Steinman, Eric. “It is 10:00… Do You Know if Your Kids Are on Facebook?” Care2. 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2011. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/it-is-1000do-you-know-if-your-kids-are-on-facebook.html