Is Facebook Bad for you?

Is Facebook Bad for you?

A long time ago I wanted to know that: are video games bad for you? And I made a post about it. I got a final answer on that question on that. Video games are good and bad for you. You probably read that post already. If not Click here. I recommend you to play video games one hour per day. I only play 30 min per day and like video games like other kids do. But I still like science more than video games. Anyway, we’re not talking about video games now. I wanted to know: Is facebook bad for you? Again, video games are good and bad for you. So now I wanted to know that facebook is good or bad for you. To answer this question, I’ve got to do some research and know what facebook is.

Facebook is an American for-profit corporation and an online social media and social networking service based in Menlo Park, California. The Facebook website was launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg, along with fellow Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.

The founders had initially limited the website’s membership to Harvard students; however, later they expanded it to higher education institutions in the Boston area, the Ivy League schools, and Stanford University. Facebook gradually added support for students at various other universities, and eventually to high school students as well. Since 2006, anyone age 13 and older has been allowed to become a registered user of Facebook, though variations exist in the minimum age requirement, depending on applicable local laws. The Facebook name comes from the facebook directories often given to United States university students.

Facebook may be accessed by a large range of desktops, laptops, tablet computers, and smartphones over the Internet and mobile networks. After registering to use the site, users can create a user profile indicating their name, occupation, schools attended and so on. Users can add other users as “friends”, exchange messages, post status updates and digital photos, share digital videos and links, use various software applications (“apps”), and receive notifications when others update their profiles or make posts. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups organized by workplace, school, hobbies or other topics, and categorize their friends into lists such as “People From Work” or “Close Friends”. In groups, editors can pin posts to top. Additionally, users can complain about or block unpleasant people. Because of the large volume of data that users submit to the service, Facebook has come under scrutiny for its privacy policies. Facebook makes most of its revenue from advertisements which appear onscreen.

Bad things about facebook: 

1. It can make you feel like your life isn’t as cool as everyone else’s. Social psychologist Leon Festinger observed that people are naturally inclined to engage in social comparison. To answer a question like “Am I doing better or worse than average?” you need to check out other people like you. Facebook is a quick, effortless way to engage in social comparison, but with even one glance through your News Feed you might see pictures of your friends enjoying a mouth-watering dinner at Chez Panisse, or perhaps winning the Professor of the Year award at Yale University. Indeed, a study by Chou and Edge (2012) found that chronic Facebook users tend to think that other people lead happier lives than their own, leading them to feel that life is less fair.
2. It can lead you to envy your friends’ successes. Did cousin Annabelle announce a nice new promotion last month, a new car last week, and send a photo from her cruise vacation to Aruba this morning?  Not only can Facebook make you feel like you aren’t sharing in your friends’ happiness, but it can also make you feel envious of their happy lives. Buxmann and Krasnova (2013) have found that seeing others’ highlights on your News Feed can make you envious of friends’ travels, successes, and appearances. Additional findings suggest that the negative psychological impact of passively following others on Facebook is driven by the feelings of envy that stem from passively skimming your News Feed.
3. It can lead to a sense of false consensus. Sit next to a friend while you each search for the same thing on Google. Eli Pariser, author of The Filter Bubble (2012), can promise you won’t see the same search results. Not only have your Internet searches grown more personalized, so have social networking sites. Facebook’s sorting function places posts higher in your News Feed if they’re from like-minded friends—which may distort your view of the world (Constine, 2012). This can lead you to believe that your favorite political candidate is a shoe-in for the upcoming election, even though many of your friends are saying otherwise…you just won’t hear them.
4. It can keep you in touch with people you’d really rather forget.  Want to know what your ex is up to? You can…and that might not be a good thing.Facebook stalking has made it harder to let go of past relationships. Does she seem as miserable as I am? Is that ambiguous post directed at me? Has she started dating that guy from trivia night? These questions might better remain unanswered; indeed, Marshall (2012) found that Facebook users who reported visiting their former partner’s page experienced disrupted post-breakup emotional recovery and higher levels of distress. Even if you still run into your ex in daily life, the effects of online surveillance were significantly worse than those of offline contact.
5. It can make you jealous of your current partner.  Facebook stalking doesn’t only apply to your ex.  Who is this Stacy LaRue, and why is she constantly “liking” my husband’s Facebook posts?   Krafsky and Krafsky, authors of Facebook and Your Marriage (2010), address many common concerns in relationships that stem from Facebook use. “Checking up on” your partner’s page can often lead to jealousy and even unwarranted suspicion, particularly if your husband’s exes frequently come into the picture. Krafsky and Krafsky recommend talking with your partner about behaviors that you both consider safe and trustworthy on Facebook, and setting boundaries where you don’t feel comfortable.
6. It can reveal information you might not want to share with potential employers.  Do you really want a potential employer to know about how drunk you got at last week’s kegger…or the interesting wild night that followed with the girl in the blue bikini?  Peluchette and Karl (2010) found that 40% of users mention alcoholuse on their Facebook page, and 20% mention sexual activities. We often think these posts are safe from prying eyes, but that might not be the case. While 89% of jobseekers use social networking sites, 37% of potential employers do, as well—and are actively looking into their potential hires (Smith, 2013). If you’re on the job market, make sure to check your privacy settings and restrict any risqué content to “Friends Only”, if you don’t wish to delete it entirely.
7. It can become addictive.  Think society’s most common addictive substances are coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol? Think again. The DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) includes a new diagnosis that has stirred controversy: a series of items gauging Internet Addiction. Since then, Facebook addiction has gathered attention from both popular media and empirical journals, leading to the creation of a Facebook addiction scale (Paddock, 2012; see below for items). To explore the seriousness of this addiction, Hofmann and colleagues (2012) randomly texted participants over the course of a week to ask what they most desired at that particular moment. They found that among their participants, social media use was craved even more than tobacco and alcohol.
8. My opinion: For example: what if one of your subscribers says to you to go to the most expensive restaurant in the world 20 times? You’re just wasting money because of this.

Good things about facebook:

1. Boost your confidence in minutes. According to a Cornell University study, spending just 3 minutes on Facebook can make you feel better about yourself, possibly because you’re able to choose the information you put out there. Bonus: Editing your own profile during a Facebook break yields the biggest confidence boost, researchers say.

2. Chill out by perusing posts. Students experienced a decrease in heart rate and lower levels of stress and tension when using the social network, report researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

3. Dream up vacation ideas. German researchers found that many users report feeling envious while visiting Facebook. Specifically, drooling over others’ vacation photos triggers more than half of jealousy-inducing incidents. But research shows taking a vacation reduces stress, increases satisfaction, and could even help you live longer. Turn your resentment into inspiration and book that beach getaway—then make others jealous with photos of your toes in the sand.

4. Show off! Nearly two thirds of men report putting their art, music, writing, and photography online compared to just 50 percent of women, Northwestern University researchers found.

5. Drop pounds. Participants following a weight loss program shed more weight—4.5 pounds, on average—when they joined a Facebook group than those who followed the program without the social media component. Sharing your goals and progress can help you feel accountable and motivated.

6. Fight pain. People report lower levels of pain while viewing photos of a loved one, say UCLA researchers. Got a dentist’s appointment scheduled? Cue up your girlfriend’s profile.

7. Boost productivity. In a study at the University of Melbourne, workers given a 10-minute break to read Facebook were 16 percent more productive than a group that wasn’t allowed to use the Internet during the rest, and 40 percent more productive than people who didn’t receive a break at all.

8. Smarten up.  A University of Arizona study found that older adults who used Facebook experienced a 25 percent improvement in their working memory, possibly because it requires you to process so much information—photos, status updates, and comments—at once. It’s a mini mental workout.

9.  Land a date. Men feel more confident saying things online they may not say in person, Buechel says. In other words, logging on can give you the guts to message a girl you’re attracted to, but are afraid to make the first move with face-to-face.

10. Stay informed. Thirty-one percent of men and women say keeping up with the news is the major reason they log on to Facebook, according to Pew Research Center survey findings.

11. My opinion: Posting some interesting facts to your friends. That’s all that I have….

Alright, final decision. Is Facebook bad for you? My vote………….. YES!!! 

Why yes? It’s still addictive now. And I heard a lot of people wasting their money because their subscribers told them to go to restaurants.

Leave a comment for your opinion↓

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-murder-and-the-meaning-life/201404/7-ways-facebook-is-bad-your-mental-health, and http://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/10-reasons-facebook-good