Are we stressed out because we spend too much time on Facebook, or does our stress lead us to spend too much time on social media? This chicken and egg question is at the heart of new research from psychology researchers in Germany recently published in the journal Psychiatry Research.
In the study of 309 Facebook users (not a terribly large study, but enough to get an idea of possible trends), researchers “investigated the links between daily stress, social support, Facebook use, and Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD).”
We’ve long known that alongside the dangers of frequent social media use – such as increased anxiety - lie social and emotional benefits such as ease in maintaining long-distance relationships and experiencing feelings of social support. Studies have suggested that introverts may get the most out of social media interactions because it compensates for real-life interaction; but at the end of the day your personality type determines how you engage with people on Facebook and what you get out of it (whether it’s increased levels of friendship and well-being or another notch on your perceived social influence).
The new study looks specifically at stress and how it impacts our use of social media sites like Facebook. And the researchers found that among their subjects, increased levels of stress led them to use Facebook more often.
This makes sense since we perceive Facebook to be a place where we can interact with our friends and receive support, but the dark side of this is that it also leads to an overreliance on Facebook and can even potentially lead to Facebook addiction.
Furthermore, those who receive the majority of their support online (as opposed to IRL) may be at risk of developing a pathological dependence on Facebook.
The study was conducted using an online survey – another reason this is preliminary research at best - of 309 Facebook users between the ages of 18 and 56, though university students were particularly encouraged to participate.
“We have specifically invited students to participate in the survey, as they often experience a high level of stress for a number of reasons,” said Julia Brailovskaia of the Mental Health Research and Treatment Center in Bochum, Germany. This is because students are often isolated from family and friends when they leave home and can use the social network to maintain relationships when they feel lonely or begin to build new relationships.
The survey questions were designed to measure self-reported stress levels as well as how much social support the subjects felt they received both on- and off-line. They also recorded the amount of time each day the subjects spent on Facebook.
Researchers are concerned that those who seek solace on Facebook risk creating a vicious cycle in which they go online to find companionship when feeling stressed and end up spending so much time online that it affects their offline relationships. Fewer offline relationships lead to more stress, which leads them back to Facebook.
The findings indicate that those who reported less offline support were more likely to increase their use of Facebook when they felt stress. But here’s the kicker – while these stressed-out people sought solace on Facebook, the end result tended to be negative overall. Not only did this reliance on Facebook lead to overuse, but the researchers found that it could even lead to addiction and other negative effects on mental health.
It’s important to remember that even those who had a hand in building Facebook have admitted that it’s designed to be addictive. Sean Parker, an early Facebook investor, once told an audience that the initial mission of the social media platform was to consume as much of a user’s time as possible. After all, more time on the site means more revenue.
Every element of the site is designed to make you want to consume more, validate your feelings and opinions, and make you feel more in tune with the world. But for the most part, it’s an artificial creation meant to exploit your weaknesses:
It's a social-validation feedback loop … exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology, Parker told Axios.
And it’s not just Facebook. Interactive apps were purposely designed to keep you coming back. According to former Mozilla and Jawbone employee Aza Raskin:
"It's as if they're taking behavioral cocaine and just sprinkling it all over your interface and that's the thing that keeps you coming back and back and back. Behind every screen on your phone, there are generally like literally a thousand engineers that have worked on this thing to try to make it maximally addicting.”
While some engineers have recently expressed remorse over their creations, there’s no going back. Facebook has hit over 2 billion users and keeps reporting enormous amounts of revenue despite constant ethical controversy and fines in the billions of dollars.
One benefit of the current study is that it suggests that strong offline relationships can help mitigate some of the damage of Facebook addiction. It appears that offline social support systems could protect people from using Facebook obsessively. Then again, this is tough for introverts and those who live far away from friends and family.
For those who have the wherewithal and the willpower to break free of their social media crutch, they can avoid some of the worst effects of social media on mental health by spending time cultivating offline relationships.
