Some will compulsively collect friends on Facebook, for no real good reason at all other than feeling important. They’ll actively spend hours continuously collecting hundreds of virtual friends that they don’t even know.
Then they’ll constantly post updates about themselves that no one really cares about or reads, this in the attempts to generate “likes” or “shares.” Their intention is collecting positive virtual relationships which usually raises their self-esteem.
Look mom, I’ve got 3257 Friends on Facebook now, and they all like me. But that’s around when the “red flags” should begin to appear. It’s found that there are potentially negative aspects of this behavior, the increase of stress and anxiety among them.
Amazingly, there are now over 1 billion Facebook members worldwide, all of whom chooses to reveal certain demographics about themselves, such as: their likes, dislikes, school, education, where they work, where they live, making this undoubtedly the premier social medium mixing pot on the Internet.
The Stress Of Being On Facebook
• There’s some who will actually feel guilty about rejecting an actual “friend” request from people who they don’t even know
• Most will feel anxiety when attempting to come up with new inventive, interesting, or funny status updates which are relevant or topical
• There are some who don’t like or understand the different rules of online social etiquette, so they step beyond the boundaries
Why Even Bother To Facebook
So the most obvious question is, why go through the strain of having a profile on Facebook, which compounds additional stress and anxiety in our lives.
Based on a recent survey, the overwhelming reply by the majority of users was that they continue to do so to keep in contact with their immediate friends, participate in groups and events, this since they don’t want to miss something potentially important.
So because of this, it usually results in additional pressure according to social science experts, as it keeps these members at a heightened state of neurotic limbo, which is similar to waiting for something to happen.
Some are not that enthusiastic regarding the social benefits of Facebook even though they continued to use it as a form of communication. It was also discovered that those who had the most “friends” were the ones who experienced the most stress.
The argument being that they felt anxious because of Facebook’s self centered structure. Some members have actually become a mini celebrity among their audience, which places additional pressure on they continuing to be relevant and interesting.
More Facebook Friends More Pressure
Yes, there are those who study the phenomenon which is social media, focusing specifically on Facebook. They found that the more people there are in a certain FB group, the greater chances there are for it to cause some type of offense.
It was also found that for young people, adding family members such as their parents, former classmates, or employers resulted in increased stress. The levels elevate once a user presents a different version of themselves, or a particular behavior on Facebook, which may be considered unacceptable or inappropriate.
Once upon a time, Facebook used to be a great virtual party just with their friends, where you would let it all hang loose. But now, with your boss and your parents all hanging out and taking a look, the party becomes a potential landmine of disaster or embarrassment.
When comparing the various social networks, it wasn’t surprising that Facebook because of its massive reveal, caused the most stress, while Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube caused little to none.
Does Facebook Increase Too Much Self Importance
Does compulsive participation on Facebook enhance one’s self-esteem, or does making fake friends detract from a sense of “self” while promoting narcissistic like behavior.
The research involved a closer look at the evidence and the residue left by the participants “self-promotion,” when it came to their Facebook profiles. What self-promotion referred to was things such as continuously updating their status once every few hours.
These actions included frequently posting pictures of themselves, sharing funny online photos, quotes, videos, and motto’s which only glorified themselves. The research concluded that those who were the most active on Facebook, they usually all tended to display certain mental tendencies such as insecure personalities.
One’s “Self-Promotion” On Facebook
It’s found that those individuals who may be considered a tad narcissistic will use Facebook as a self-promotion vehicle so they can be identified by others. It’s also more of the way that they post on their profiles and thus appear on newsfeeds, is what correlated them closely with this disorder.
When it comes to narcissists, they’ll use Facebook in the same manner in which they would conduct relationships in their real lives, which is a lot of self-promotion without substance or regard to others.
But It’s Not All About Self Promoting
It was found that viewing as well as editing one’s Facebook profile can also boost their self-esteem. The theory being that people will generally view themselves both as a subject and an object. It’s found that Facebook can be used to promote better self awareness.
Facebook can actually have a positive influence in this case, especially since it can pump up one’s confidence, this since having a profile generally just displays the extreme positive and perfect version of themselves, without showing flaws.
So even if the frequency of one using Facebook is closely associated with narcissism, doing so continues to be a debatable issue. There are however recent studies which found that for the heavy chronic FB users, their anxiety level takes a hit.