The average U.S. Facebook user spends 6.5 hours a month on the site. There is growing global evidence that using social networks have a negative impact on their users. Not only do social networks open their users to malware (PDF) and identity theft, but the latest research from around the world suggests that social media can impact user’s emotional well-being.
BuzzFeed reports that social scientists at the University of Michigan looked at the impact of social networking. The UofM researchers released new research that using Facebook can make you feel bad. The U of M research published in the online journal Plos One found that Facebook use predicted declines in the well-being of surveyed participants.
The Michigan research indicates that using Facebook negatively impacts how people feel from one moment to the next. It also impacts their overall life satisfaction. As UM social psychologist Ethan Kross explained to BuzzFeed:
“On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection. Rather than enhancing well-being, however, these findings suggest that Facebook may undermine it.”
BuzzFeed points out that the results are just another piece in a larger stack of evidence. The evidence says that increased hours per month spent on Facebook could have a harmful effect on our lives. Professor Kross told the LA Times, “We measured lots and lots of other personality and behavioral dimensions … none of the factors that we assessed influenced the results. The more you used Facebook, the more your mood dropped.”
The Michigan study tested for and discounted alternative reasons that might account for Facebook’s negative impact on happiness. However, the article claims the deceased life satisfaction of Facebook users has more to do with behavioral patterns than the service itself.
The article equates Facebook use with gambling. The author cites Alexis Madrigal‘s article in the Atlantic, “The Machine Zone.” The Atlantic article says that Facebook users, similar to those who play slot machines, are unwittingly lulled into a time-distorting rhythm. They are lulled by repetitive and sometimes rewarding tasks — like looking at an endless stream of your friends’ photos. This behavior can mimic the deleterious effects of gambling and even addiction. The article claims this kind of problem stems from Facebook’s savvy design and engineering. Facebook takes advantage of how humans are wired to keep users on the site.
Social networks in China
TechEye also points out a study from researchers at China’s Beihang University. The Chinese study claims social networking sites are generating a lot of anger. The study, by Rui Fan, Jichang Zhao, Yan Chen, and Ke Xu, examined human emotions on China’s Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo.
After reading 70 million messages from 200,000 users of Weibo, the researchers found that anger spreads faster and wider than other emotions like joy. The TechEye article suggests that posts you write out of anger will have more impact than those expressing happiness. The researchers also found that users with a larger number of friends have a more significant sentiment influence on their neighborhoods. According to the article, the Chinese researchers found that anger among users correlated much higher than that of joy. They concluded that angry emotions could spread more quickly and broadly in the network.
If a user sent an angry message, researchers looked at how likely the recipients were to also send out an angry message or retweet the same emotion. The BuzzFeed article also references a German study. The German study found that Facebook’s social pressures created noticeable stress and feelings of envy. These are emotions that could, ultimately, lead to people abandoning the social network.
Social networks FOMO
A Pew Research Center report released in May 2013 reinforces the risks Facebook faces. According to BuzzFeed, younger users told Pew the stress of needing to manage their reputation on Facebook contributes to their lack of enthusiasm for the social network. Nevertheless, the site is still where a large amount of socializing takes place. The teens reported feeling they need to stay on Facebook to not miss out.
The BuzzFeed article concludes that future social media networks will have to figure out have to survive if they make us sad. The question isn’t exclusive to Facebook. In a recent survey, social media as an industry ranked third to last in consumer satisfaction. Social networks ranked below the airline industry. They state that it’s not hard to imagine a future where users will demand social platforms that are not only intensely engaging but also keenly aware and respectful of how our psychological state works.
As Madrigal notes in his post, “fighting the great nullness at the heart of these coercive loops should be one of the goals of technology design, use, and criticism.” Facebook has succeeded in its mission to connect the world. But we’re only beginning to understand what that means for humanity.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
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