By Jennifer Colbourne (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: September 18, 2013
The Science
Does Facebook cause depression? A lot of studies have been investigating this question, and new research from Stony Brook University indicates that yes indeed, Facebook is associated with depression and in a whole new way: through negative comparison on the social media site.
In the study, 268 university students were given a survey, then a follow-up survey three weeks later. Controlling for general social comparison, it was found that there was a positive association between Facebook social comparison and rumination (compulsive negative brooding) leading to depression.
“Some evidence suggests that individuals tend to self-disclose more positive information about themselves on Facebook compared with ‘real life’ . . . and individuals who spend more time on Facebook are more likely to agree that others are ‘happier’ and have “better lives,’” explained researchers Feinstein et al. in “Negative Social Comparison on Facebook and Depressive Symptoms: Rumination as a Mechanism.”
“As such, given that rumination involves passive and repetitive focus on one’s distress, social comparison may provide ample opportunity to mull over causes and consequences of perceived inferiority.”
Though this new evidence is adding to a body of work supporting the connection between Facebook and depression, there is also a lot of evidence to the contrary. For instance, one recent study this January from Australian Catholic University in Brisbane found evidence supporting the positive effects of Facebook connectedness, finding that “Facebook connectedness had a moderate, positive relationship with subjective well-being; as well as negative relationships with both depression and anxiety” (“Face-to-face or Facebook,” Grieve et al., 2013).
Most of the work done on Facebook so far is largely correlational, and both studies insist that more research needs to be done before anything concrete can be determined. Yet both groups of researchers found a distinct difference between the Facebook social world and the ‘real’ social world, indicating that Facebook has a unique role in human life and a rich field for new research.
You, me, and UFV
So… is Facebook good or bad for you?
Facebook research findings have been consistently mixed from the beginning. Really, whether or not Facebook as a whole is negative or positive is just too large of a question to tackle. It’s not like asking whether or not corn syrup is bad for you. It’s like asking if having food from a grocery superstore is bad for you. There may be some differences in quality (more variety at a big shop, but perhaps better food and better service at a small local grocer), but the overall question is unanswerable.
It’s pretty obvious, with almost everyone using Facebook (19 million Canadians, 74% of whom use it daily) and seeing that there has been no raging epidemic of depression and suicide since its founding in 2004, that whatever effect Facebook has is specific and/or subtle, or we would have seen it by now. But it’s important to investigate Facebook’s various effects in all their details and complexity with so many people’s lives entangled with it.
What it comes down to is how you use Facebook. If you’re negatively comparing yourself constantly to other people, that’s probably not going to have good consequences, as this study shows. However, if Facebook is a positive tool for you (i.e., a way for you to feel connected, keep in touch, and share news), then it’s hard to say it’s a problem, either.
Like anything, it’s what you make of it.
