Facebook the Social Isolation Network

Facebook depression is it caused or is Facebook just a tool? I’ve learned a lot about Facebook Depression but I still have one source to get through. My 4th and final source is “The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families” by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe gets straight to the point by calling Facebook Depression a new phenomenon. Facebook Depression is now according to this article something they believe to be as real as cyberbullying or sexting

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O'Keeffe even goes on to define it “as depression that develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression” Do people just experience depression the minute they jump on Facebook? Not probable. As the article goes on O'Keeffee explains “Acceptance by and contact with peers is an important element of adolescent life… As with offline depression, preadolescents and adolescents who suffer from Facebook depression are at risk for social isolation” In one way it doesn’t make any sense that a “social network” could cause social isolation because that’s the whole point of the website to share with others, yet in another light there are people who post who may not actually have any real friends. Meaning they post to their peers to get likes but that may be all the social interaction they may get.

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The article concludes by addressing that Pediatricians are to be held responsible to educate people about Facebook Depression. O'Keeffe thinks that “Pediatricians can help parents understand that what is happening online is an extension of these underlying issues and that parents can be most helpful if they understand the core issues and have strategies for dealing with them.” My audience is around college students, so, Why would we expect our parents to be held responsible for being educated? I think it’s because parents are the ones who worry the most and should be the first held responsible for noticing that their child could be experiencing Facebook Depression.

This source certainly raised some new questions: Is it possible that teens and young adults just stay clear of Facebook until they're fully grown?, Should Colorado health officials be held responsible for trying to improve youth's self-esteem?

As I said I have learned about Facebook Depression throughout this blog research project. I initially thought Facebook could only be used as a tool to put your thoughts online including the sad ones. My views have changed the more studies and articles I read because there are actually a few aspects of Facebook I honestly believe could make someone feel depressed and those might be the things that cause people to write the thoughts they have in the first place.

I still ponder though just because some people do encounter some of those feelings will it eventually happen to everyone. I would also be interested in knowing more about why we feel the need to share how we feel online in the first place. In my final argumentative essay I want to argue that people use Facebook as a tool more than they get depressed from using the site. Throughout my research it is proven that they can find evidence of actual depression from the analysis of college student’s statuses.

O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin, and Kathleen Clarke-Pearson. "The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families." Pediatrics 127.4 (2011): 800-804.

Facebook Stalking: Should you do it?

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Facebook’s leading cause of depression is envy caused by something we all do too well Facebook stalking . My second source “If Facebook Use Causes Envy, Depression Could Follow” by Nathan Hurst explains a separate study where it was discovered that using Facebook causes envy and that leads to depression. Does that mean Facebook causes envy and I should rename my whole blog after Facebook envy? I’m not entirely sure because Margaret Duffy the professor behind the study says “that how Facebook users use the site makes a difference in how they respond to it.” The article goes into further depth talking about how the study found that students who use Facebook for connecting with friends weren’t depressed but if they were surveillance facebook users then they were likely to be depressed. I suppose that means every girl I know who stalks their exes and old friends are going to get depression? According to this source, that’s quite the case. It also suggests that seeing friends doing better than oneself will make them become envious and then depressed. I think a great example of this is when you see someone in a new relationship and then you’re sad because you want someone to take cute selfies with too. The whole study sums up with the fact that it shouldn’t be possible to get depression on Facebook as long as users post positive things about themselves and that should prevent the envy.

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My first blog post talked about how my first source did research to discover Facebook was a tool where we could find out if youngins had depression because they post symptoms through their statuses. I found with my second source it explained how Facebook actually made people depressed versus depressed people were using Facebook.

I had some new questions arise after reading this source such as: do people always experience depression when they feel jealous or only on Facebook? Why do we actually get jealous looking at others posts shouldn’t we feel happy for them? Does how much we Facebook stalk effect how depressed one might feel?

"If Facebook use Causes Envy, Depression could Follow." Targeted News Service, Washington, D.C., 2015 https://proxy1.aims.edu:2443/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1650734197?accountid=35907.