A warning to parents: Excessive use of Facebook = depressed kids.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) believes that equation to be 100% true.
So, all you moms and dads with Facebook obsessed kids: Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I am not on Facebook. Consequently, my second grader has no clue that the social networking site exists.
Thus, zero exposure to Facebook = darn happy kid.
Despite this fact, I will try to remain humble and not turn this post into an exercise in self-validation. Rather, I will just stick to the facts.
According to the AAP, a link exists between depression and the amount of time young people spend on Facebook.
Makes sense to me. After all, the site is loaded with photos of smiling babies, families taking fancy vacations, news of promotions and engagements, plus plenty of images of incredibly delectable dishes the poster is eating… and you’re not.
Facebook allows users to create an ultra-fab world where there’s a party brewing every day… one that you can look at, but aren’t always invited to.
How depressing is that?
So depressing even the gluttony of Facebook images featuring frisky puppy dogs, rainbows and glittery unicorns can’t make feelings of inadequacy disappear.
Hence, “Facebook depression.”
The phenomenon is not new to those who follow the impact social networking sites have on the general population.
Prior to the AAP’s study, Utah Valley University surveyed more than 420 undergraduate students and found that those who spent the most amount of time on Facebook were more depressed than peers who limited their time on the site.
Here’s one student’s interpretation of Facebook depression: “If you really didn’t have that many friends and weren’t really doing much with your life, and saw other peoples’ status updates and pictures and what they were doing with friends, I could see how that would make them upset. It’s like a big popularity contest–who can get the most friend requests or get the most pictures tagged.”
In other words, if your child is not very social and lacks self-esteem, then viewing their friends’ positive Facebook posts may exacerbate depression and despair. Conversely, if your child is a social butterfly and has a ton of Facebook connections his self-esteem may be enhanced.
As a parent, it may behoove you to remind your Facebook-using offspring that not everything they view online is indicative of the big picture.
For example, that Facebook photo of a pal smiling on Waikiki Beach at sunset could have been snapped after he fought with his parents and siblings for two hours about where they would be having dinner. And that picture of the sizzling hot steak fajitas you’ve been dying to try at your town’s newest restaurant may have been shot before the poster dug in and discovered the dish tasted like the bottom of a cowboy’s boot.
Bottom line: Very few people willingly update their Facebook status with information that makes them look bad.
Don’t let their glossy half-truths bring you down.
Related Articles:
Confessions of a Reluctant Facebook Parent
Birthing Moms Go Glam for Facebook