Why you need to stop comparing yourself with others on Facebook
Comparing yourself with others on Facebook is more likely to lead to feelings of depression than making social comparisons offline. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Concerns over the effect on mental health led the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2011 to define “Facebook depression” as a “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”.
Comparing yourself with others on Facebook is more likely to lead to feelings of depression than making social comparisons offline, UK’s Lancaster University wrote on its website on Monday, citing findings of a review of all the research on the links between social networking and depression by two researchers from the institution.
David Baker and Dr Guillermo Perez Algorta examined studies from 14 countries with 35,000 participants aged between 15 and 88.
Their review found that the relationship between online social networking and depression may be very complex and associated with factors like age and gender.
In cases where there is a significant association with depression, the reason is that comparing yourself with others can lead to “rumination” or overthinking. Negative comparison with others when using Facebook was found to predict depression through increased rumination and frequent posting on Facebook was associated with depression.
The frequency, quality and type of online social networking are also important. Facebook users were more at risk of depression when they felt envy triggered by observing others, accepted former partners as Facebook friends, made negative social comparisons and made frequent negative status updates.
Gender and personality also influenced the risk: women and people with neurotic personalities more likely to become depressed.
But the researchers stressed that online activity could also help people with depression who use it as a mental health resource and to enhance social support.
Concerns over the effect on mental health led the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2011 to define “Facebook depression” as a “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”. Baker and Dr Algorta’s report is titled “The Relationship Between Online Social Networking and Depression: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies”. It is in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
