A colleague recently had an \u2018aha\u2019 moment when listening to her client talk about Facebook.\u00a0 Her client had been struggling with low mood and nothing seemed to make a difference in shifting her thoughts and mood.\u00a0 The \u2018aha\u2019 came when she heard her client say things like \u2018everyone seems to have a better life than I do\u2019.\u00a0 When asked where this thought came from the reply was \u201cFacebook\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0After more discussion my colleague recommended her client take a Facebook sabbatical for a couple of weeks.\u00a0 It worked.\u00a0 The client\u2019s mood elevated, their motivation and focus increased.\u00a0 When the client went back on Facebook they noticed a marked decrease in mood again.\u00a0 For this particular client social networking seemed to increase their sense of isolation, envy of the lives of others and the more the client read and looked at Facebook posts the worse they felt.<\/p>\n
This conversation sparked me to find out what research is being done on social networking. While there are numerous studies on social networking and potential negative effects I want to focus on one of the most recent studies. \u00a0\u201cEnvy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users\u2019 Life Satisfaction?\u201d [1]<\/a> was a joint research study conducted by Berlin\u2019s Humboldt University and the Darmstadt\u2019s Technical University, led by Dr. Hanna Krasnova.<\/p>\n The authors of this report shared past research that \u201clinked consumption of social information on FB to such undesirable outcomes as jealousy, increase in social tension, social overload, isolation and even depression\u201d.\u00a0 What their research focused on was examining some of the underlying dynamics, in particular the role that envy plays in these negative outcomes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The researchers conducted two separate studies with 584 Facebook users. The first study looked at the \u201cscale, scope, and nature of envy incidents triggered by Facebook\u201d and the second study focused on \u201cthe role of envy feelings\u2026as a mediator between intensity of passive following on Facebook and users\u2019 life satisfaction\u201d.\u00a0 The focus on envy was based on other research, which indicates, \u201cendured over longer time periods, envy can damage one\u2019s sense of self-worth, result in group dissatisfaction and withdrawal, lead to depressive tendencies, reduce perceptions of well-being, and poor mental health\u201d.<\/p>\n What were the findings?\u00a0<\/p>\n The researchers found \u201cthat envy about \u201ctravel and leisure\u201d, <\/em>\u201csocial interactions\u201d <\/em>and \u201chappiness\u201d belong to the three most frequently mentioned causes of envy triggered by Facebook <\/em>use\u201d.\u00a0 They also found that Facebook was \u201cresponsible for causing 21.7% of recent envy cases\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0Interesting!<\/p>\n There is a difference between those who actively participate on Facebook and those who passively consume information (e.g. browse news feeds, click on stories or photos, follow communications). \u00a0The researchers conclude \u201cpassive following triggers invidious emotions, with users mainly envying happiness of others, the way others spend their vacations; and socialize. The spread and ubiquitous presence of envy on social networking sites is shown to undermine users\u2019 life satisfaction\u201d. \u00a0Hmmm.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sharing this information to sound the alarm and suggest our clients and we exit social networking sites en masse as a way to improve our life satisfaction though it may offer an insight into what might be troubling some of our clients.\u00a0 Maybe, in addition to our usual assessments, we need to enquire into our clients\u2019 use of social networking, how they perceive it and how they feel about themselves before, during and after. \u00a0Then we can suggest appropriate strategies for managing their use of social networking.<\/p>\n If anyone else has stories to share I\u2019d like to hear them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dawn M Schell, MA, CCC, CCDP is an affiliate of Worldwide Therapy Online Inc. http:\/\/www.therapyonline.ca<\/a><\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Krasnova, H., Wenninger, H., Widjaja, T. & Buxmann, P. (2013) Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users\u2019 Life Satisfaction. Retrieved from\u00a0 http:\/\/warhol.wiwi.hu-berlin.de\/~hkrasnova\/Ongoing_Research_files\/WI%202013%20Final%20Submission%20Krasnova.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A colleague recently had an \u2018aha\u2019 moment when listening to her client talk about Facebook.\u00a0 Her client had been struggling with low mood and nothing seemed to make a difference in shifting her thoughts and mood.\u00a0 The \u2018aha\u2019 came when she heard her client say things like \u2018everyone seems to have a better life than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-online-counselling"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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