Whilst people are engulfed
in other people’s daily activities, it is inevitable that they start comparing
someone else’s lives to their own.
We have all been
told before not to trust everything you see or read about on the Internet, but
has anyone told you not to believe that everyone’s lives are happy and fun, except
yours?
Facebook
depression is when someone sees a new update from a friend on
their Facebook account such as a status update, wall post, photos and videos,
which make them feel unpopular.
A study from the
University of Houston found that people who use Facebook more often tend to
have more depressive symptoms as it was linked to people comparing their lives
to others.
There have been an increasing number of people diagnosed with depression
that is linked to social media. This includes low self-esteem and bitter
jealousy, where people are feeling as if other people are living a better life
than they do, such as seeing people posting photos and videos of their latest
holiday trips, engagement, wedding, welcoming the birth of a new baby and many
more.
Facebook friends’ list and status updates can have a negative impact
when they are comparing themselves to each other and find they are lacking,
especially when they are able to count the number of friends someone else has
on their Facebook compared to their own or someone is in a relationship whilst
they are still single.
Other instances that can affect someone’s feeling of self-worth include
posting a status and worried if people will “like” their post or if people will
comment. As a result, people may feel depressed from gaining their sense of
self-worth from other people’s approval or “likes”.
Should people steer clear away from social media?
Facebook was not created to make people depressed about their lives; it
is about connecting with your friends and loved ones, who you may not be able
to see or catch up regularly due to other commitments or living in different
locations.
You should feel good from using Facebook, however if you begin to compare
your life with others, you may have a distorted view of their lives as you are
only seeing a little part compared to the many other things that is happening,
leading you to depressive symptoms as you feel you do not measure up to them.
If this is the case for you, then it’s time to step back away from these
sites and remember that not everyone posts every little detail about themselves
on Facebook. People generally just post highlights in their lives, which are
the posts and photos you see on Facebook, but that’s the best they can show.
It is also important to educate teenagers and children not to read too
much into other people’s lives that they start comparing every details of their
own to others and only focus on how to live their life to the fullest.
“Life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% of how we react to it”
Dennis P. Kimbro
Being brought up in a typical Chinese family in Australia,
Vivian takes pride as an ABC (Australia-born Chinese) where she happily
embraces both the Chinese and Australian cultures.
In high school, Vivian wanted to become a fashion designer,
however she has developed a passion for running events after working backstage
for multiple live shows. Prior to starting at Akolade, Vivian worked 4 years in
the wine industry and she misses the wine tasting sessions and openly drinking
on the job. As the Marketing Coordinator, Vivian enjoys using her creativity to
design unique and fun campaigns for each event. In her spare time, Vivian loves
to spend time with her two adorable pets; a cat and a dog.
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