[New Dangers Of] Facebook Depression [Social Media?]

[InaRut]

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/...-children.html

...But there are unique aspects of Facebook that can make it a particularly tough social landscape to navigate for kids already dealing with poor self-esteem, said Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, a Boston-area pediatrician and lead author of new American Academy of Pediatrics social media guidelines.
With in-your-face friends tallies, status updates and photos of happy-looking people having great times, Facebook pages can make some kids feel even worse if they think they don't measure up.

It can be more painful than sitting alone in a crowded school cafeteria or other real-life encounters that can make kids feel down, O'Keeffe said, because Facebook provides a skewed view of what's really going on. Online, there's no way to see facial expressions or read body language that provide context.

I'm not sure WHAT to think of this to be honest. It does sound a bit ridiclous though, doesn't it?

[malachite]

[Flyers2011]

I dunno. There might be some stock in it. It kinda has a legitimate thing. I mean, if a kid sees one of their friends has 1000 friends (which several of my friends do) they might think, "Why don't as many people like me?"

I guess it all has to do with how the kid looks at themselves. I dunno.

[NickT]

I don't know...seeing pictures of people acting like drunken whores, smoking hookah, and the occasional "derp" make me feel a lot better about myself, really.

[Emberstone]

anyone remeber the facebook episode of south park?

matt and tray beat this guy to the punch.

[Martin]

I don't think it's that ridiculous really. I think all it does is show how ridiculous popularity and social status means to some people.

Schools have always been a haven for some people to try and obtain popularity with their peers, so it's not really a surprise that this type of behaviour is starting to move towards social networks considering they appeal to that age group. One of the downsides to websites like Facebook is that they are interactive based on the number of friends you have on there, so it's reasonably forseeable (imo) for a person who feels lonely at school to then move onto a mainstream site like Facebook, not have many friends on that, and allow it to affect them. It would arguably be a form of virtual isolation because of how integrated technology and online networking has become in our everyday lives.

As a standalone factor I don't think it would have much effect on somebody, but it could certainly add stress onto an already difficult lifestyle.

[Super Trouper]

Funny you should mention that, because me and my friend have been very worried about a close friend of ours who is becoming completely addicted to Facebook, and has been progressively isolating herself from everyone around her. As much of a cliché as this sounds, we're considering having an intervention pretty soon.

[Connor22]

and so the rise of Big Brother continues...

[InaRut]

The way I see it though, is that it's kind of ironic how people can now develop social anxieties without having to be (at least Physically) social.

"Do you have facebook?"
"No, I have social anxiety disorder."

[Aya McCabre]

I can see how facebook could have an impact on feeling alone. I went through several years of only hearing about what my friends were doing when they were talking about it the day after..... with facebook you find out about everything sooner, you get to see what you missed. There's also no record of people not doing things (you only post pictures etc when there's something worth showing). If you were feeling isolated to start with it could easily make things worse.

[endless poetry]

I guess every social phenomenon comes with its phenomenal problems.

[alan t]

I can believe this. One of my friends sometimes posts things like "life is good!" on her status, and seeing that makes me feel more depressed. Especially because everyone else "like"s it.

[Bryan90]

Social Acceptance and Recognition has always been a major theme in human motivation. Middle schools and high schools have their manifestations, and the adult world has their own version of manifestations too.

These are 'relative' measures so if you have more people to compare with, there is a chance that you'd feel worse. It's like how globalisation can make people in poor countries feel worse about themselves.

Which is why sometimes I just encourage people to live in their own bubbles, it might be a happier choice.