As we know Facebook is a social networking app created by Mark Zuckerberg. It has connected us from all around the globe. Its tagline is “Quick and Easy”. Although, I feel life becomes difficult after one signs up to Facebook for more than one reason.
Often, people interacting on Facebook tend to compare themselves to their connections. They envy each other seeing their posts and go into the Facebook depression. We sit with others in the same rooms but hardly converse as we remain busy in our virtual space thanks to Facebook. So much so that we wish our spouses a happy anniversary on Facebook. Let’s discuss it in more detail.
Facebook has a lot of psychological downsides. People put their best fake foot forward. It is a competitive show where people project that they are living a luxurious life. Nobody shares their mistakes or worries on Facebook. 80% of people admit that Facebook impacts their relationships. Many couples’ engagements, marriages have been affected or broken due to their pretentious behaviour on Facebook and then getting figured out later. Let me tell you the story of Olivia. Olivia came back from work and was quite upset. She thought of checking Facebook to cheer herself up. She saw her friend Charlotte celebrating her 20th Anniversary in Paris in a 5-star hotel. On the other hand, her friend, Sophia had got a promotion and a 60% hike in her salary. Her high school friend Ava’s son got admission to AIIMS, Delhi. On learning about this wonderful news about her friends, Olivia got disappointed with her own life situation. Her relationship was going rocky, her boss had given her unfair review, her son wanted to drop out of college. Eventually, she shut down her Facebook account. The story above points to us that Facebook does not necessarily make us happy, instead of at times it saddens us. According to Varolieburton.com – “Research has shown repeatedly that comparing yourself to those you think are doing better than you in some way, decreases your happiness.” Facebook leads to ‘Negative Social Comparison’. We have prioritized Facebook more than our personal life. Facebook causes less love more hate, less unity more disunity, less empathy more jealousy. On Facebook, most people want to create a good image of themselves. They want to show off that they are earning a lot. Viewing pictures of a friend’s second exotic vacation this year, when your budget doesn’t allow for a trip anywhere, can sure spark feelings of resentment. According to the research conducted by Troy Hazard, a fake account named Nigel posted photos of inanimate objects, and in three months it had 5000 friends. Real relationships in life don’t happen by simply clicking the ‘accept’ button. Real relationships happen when you invest in them when you take the time to truly understand those you seek a relationship with. People have turned Facebook into Fakebook and Famebook. Let’s make sure that we don’t get into this trap.
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