I recently read a post on the Facebook blog about how Facebook reduces isolation, connects people together and subsequently makes people happier:
A group of Facebook’s data scientists and I decided to measure social well-being on Facebook to find out. We discovered that the more people use Facebook, the better they feel and that those who share and communicate the most with their friends feel even better.
The research is based on the idea of Social Capital – that people interacting together has a beneficial effect. Robert Putnam famously wrote about the demise of this personal interaction in America in his book Bowling Alone (which the Facebook article cites).
The research on the effectiveness of Facebook to build social capital, used a combination of surveys and activity monitoring (seeing where and when users clicked items on the site) from 1200 volunteers. They came to this conclusion:
The results were clear: The more people use Facebook, the better they feel.
Now I’m no psychologist, but they state they recruited participants through an ad on Facebook. I would guess that only a certain range of individuals or character type would respond to an ad in that way, so already the results are only representative of a small demographic of users.
Secondly, I use Facebook. I connect with people, write comments, respond to messages, etc. If anything, I get quite frustrated using the site! I don’t want to see all those applications, group invites and friend requests from people I never see. My News Feed is littered with items I don’t care about and subsequently I can’t find what I want to!
I do understand that it’s a great tool for keeping in touch and connecting with people, so there are definitely social benefits to Facebook. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it very hard to believe that the more people use Facebook, the better they feel.
How about you?
7 responses to “Facebook = Happiness?”
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i have to admit i think the usual justification of using facebook for connecting with people, arranging gatherings and sharing info is fine. HOWEVER, it sucks the life out of real relationships, wastes thousands of hours online and is very poor subsitute for meeting with people.
I like what you are thinking. Do you think are pitfalls for youth workers using social media? I have some hangups about relational workers who can only use social media. How are we ever to educate by praxis if we are more courageous online than in reality?
Hi Ben and thanks for the comment.
Generally speaking, I like technology and the way it enhances and
changes our interactions. However, like you I see a potential danger
in drawing people away from physical interaction. In some cases people
can 'hide' behind their screen.
For youth work and any discipline that relies on building
relationships, online social networks can be a great tool. There must
be boundaries and guidelines though as otherwise the interactions can
become hidden, private and unaccountable.
I've dealt with situations where volunteers have posted inappropriate
mesages to young people online. Those things can be potentially very
damaging.
There is some great work being done in the UK with online youth work.
Tim Davies and youthworkonline are good examples and there is great
discussion and resources on that site.
http://ukyouthonline.ning.com
i have to admit i think the usual justification of using facebook for connecting with people, arranging gatherings and sharing info is fine. HOWEVER, it sucks the life out of real relationships, wastes thousands of hours online and is very poor subsitute for meeting with people.
I like what you are thinking. Do you think are pitfalls for youth workers using social media? I have some hangups about relational workers who can only use social media. How are we ever to educate by praxis if we are more courageous online than in reality?
Hi Ben and thanks for the comment.
Generally speaking, I like technology and the way it enhances and changes our interactions. However, like you I see a potential danger in drawing people away from physical interaction. In some cases people can 'hide' behind their screen.
For youth work and any discipline that relies on building relationships, online social networks can be a great tool. There must be boundaries and guidelines though as otherwise the interactions can
become hidden, private and unaccountable.
I've dealt with situations where volunteers have posted inappropriate messages to young people online. Those things can be potentially very damaging.
There is some great work being done in the UK with online youth work. Tim Davies and youthworkonline are good examples and there is great discussion and resources on that site.
http://ukyouthonline.ning.com
I never know what to sign in under, Twitter/facebook/Disque. Who knows!
Anyway. Facebook is a fascinating tool. But that is all it is. I think there are incredible dangers with such sites that as Ben says they take away from real social interactions. There are also complications and dangers as you point out Ben. Speaking as someone who has been unemployed for a while whilst waiting to start a new job, it can be very easy to sit and just watch facebook. As a result you can end up commenting on virtually everything you see. Suddenly you can find yourself in new relationships with people but only because they pour their heart out in a status and so you respond and there is an intimacy there that had not existed before. This can be particularly unhelpful with young people and youth leaders or any leaders/adults.
It's very easy at any age to post your frustrations/feelings on a facebook post. Suddenly a 15 year olds posts doesn't look that different to a 25 year old post. Those boundaries suddenly break down, and it can affect the relationship with the individual. It means the 25 year old doesn't view them as younger anymore, on at least not online and the 15 year old doesn't see them as that mentor, rather just another mate.
There are lots of pluses, organising, keeping in contact, group messages and with youth work being able to communicate with the youth, but it's also a minefield of problems and of security.
I know at a friend's church the youth spend an evening talking about facebook and it's affect and what real relationships are. They based a lot of their ideas on the book “Church of Facebook” by Jesse Rice.(link below)
I don't think this book has all the answers (I've only viewed it once and haven't had a chance to read it properly) but it talks about ideas such as your brain can only really cope with 150 real relationships so facebook can actually be incredibly emotionally draining because your taking on problems of people you would never normally communicate with. I'm planning to read the whole thing, so will let you know my thoughts.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Church-Facebook-Hyperco…
http://www.richlush.com
Thanks for the link Rich, I hadn't heard about that book. The worst part of Facebook for me is exactly what you describe – people posting about various personal and intimate thoughts that wouldn't usually be discussed or publicised. I wrote in an article about how I challenged some threatening behaviour online. Sadly, idle threats are only part of the problem.
Having said all of this negative stuff though, I do love the technology and the opportunities it brings for us to discus and collaborate!