Here I Go Again
Well, this has been fun, but it's time to give up FB, once again. On March 21st I stepped away from FB and started posting again on July 18th. Although I "liked" a few things here and there I was pretty much off FB for 4 months. After coming back 4 weeks ago I'm back to spending way too much time on FB. I love you all, but FB is wasting too much of my time. Time I could be spending with real friends (no offense), in person. I'm still gonna post pics on Instagram if you want to keep in touch (@peej0e). Otherwise, if you need to contact me use Messenger or text. Godspeed Facebook.
The thing I DIDN'T mention in my post is that I have also been experiencing some moderate depression, which I contribute to my Facebook connection. Forbes.com posted an article earlier this year entitled New Study Links Facebook To Depression:
"...a new study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology finds that not only do Facebook and depressive symptoms go hand-in-hand, but the mediating factor seems to be a well-established psychological phenomenon: Social comparison.”
Honestly, I'm not sure that's why I've been depressed, but it is definitely worth considering. The article goes on to say:
"It turned out that people who used Facebook more tended to have more depressive symptoms – but social comparison was a mediating factor only for men."
I would say that I have a healthy self-esteem and rarely compare myself to others. However, I have been feeling depressed as a result of a higher than normal use of Facebook. I might even say that I have made up for my 4 month hiatus by excessively posting over the last 4 weeks.
Another study from the University of Michigan psychologist Ethan Kross argues that Facebook makes us feel sad and lonely. In her article How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy, Maria Konnikova highlights the study's findings and says, "Kross found that the more people used Facebook... the less happy they felt."
I'm still not sure where that leaves me, but one thing I know, I have been experiencing symptoms of depression, loneliness and sadness since returning to Facebook. Perhaps I need to explore this personal (and virtual) phenomenon further, but in the meantime I will bid Facebook a fine farewell.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 11:31 AM.
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