No Face To Face On Facebook Essay

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No Face To Face on Facebook

As a social species, which depends on human interaction and body language, Facebook is no substitute for what we need. This new social media, that was designed to connect people, ironically has the effect of making us feel more socially isolated, depressed, envious and dissatisfied with our lives, writes Shristhi Ranjith.

How many of your Facebook friends have you had a real-life interaction with recently? How many friend requests have you accepted from people that you don’t even know, just to get that number higher?

Facebook provides an invaluable means of communication and connectivity between its one billion users. When it comes to staying in touch with people around the globe and easy communication, then Facebook is a winner.

Nonetheless, the website’s value and popularity often conceals its more psychologically damaging qualities.

Instead of face-to-face interaction with people we know well, we maintain stagnant, surface level friendships through cyber communication.

The irony of Facebook is that it is a force for greater isolation and loneliness, as well as greater connectivity. Despite Facebook allowing us the ability to connect ourselves with people all around the world, the superficial nature of interaction on Facebook is the thing that socially isolates us.

People spend, on average; far more time passively scrolling through newsfeeds rather than actively engaging with people. Instead of picking up the phone and calling somebody they remain an observer who is disconnected.

In a study lead by the University of Michigan, findings showed that the higher usage of Facebook by users, the more miserable the volunteers felt about themselves. This leads us to the question:

“Would enga...

... middle of paper ...

...he amounts of direction social contact an individual had and how positive and satisfied they felt.

It is clear that like all technological advances, Facebook has some benefits. The risks however are a lot more hidden and need to be acknowledged.

Constantly comparing yourself with other people is a risky thing to do if you have a tendency towards depression. So too is presenting a view of yourself to the world that is built on a falsehood.

And even more significantly while you are doing these things you are withdrawing from the face-to-face interaction that keeps us mentally healthy.

Facebook is not a balanced critique of real life. So, be aware of the posers and the disingenuous on your news feed.

Be more careful in your selections and instead of sitting in your room scrolling through other people’s activities, go out there and meet people face-to-face.

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