Week 1: Social Media

In this lecture, we read about the correlation between social media such as Facebook and mental health of college students. According to Brian A. Feinstein, social media such as Facebook increases depression, because people will be constantly comparing their lives with the lives of others (Communicating Online. Page 183-191), but According to Amy Gonzales and Jeffrey Hancock, social media such as Facebook actually have a positive impact on people such as positive social awareness (Communicating Online. Page 192-197). So the question arises: Is social media such as Facebook impacting positively or negatively the mental health of college students?

The answer is not that simple, social media have many positive and negative outcomes. According to Alice Walton in New Study Links Facebook To Depression... (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., she mentions that a study in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology discovered that Facebook users tend to get depressed while browsing through the new achievements of their Facebook contacts.

In my opinion, the depression that Facebook causes can be fought back by stop watching other do amazing things and investing that same time we spend on Facebook doing something we enjoy.

I decided to uninstall Facebook from my phone a couple of months ago, and I try to sign in Facebook only once a week. Since I uninstalled Facebook from my cell phone I have seen a considerable increase of happiness in my life because now I am doing more of the things I enjoy, instead of watching others do things that they like.

In conclusion, each of us is in charge of our own mental health and we should see what creates a positive impact on ourselves and what activities do not. If social media is decreasing your happiness maybe you should do something that makes you happy such as a sport, hobby or project. 

Sources:

Communicating Online (Pages 183-199). Edited by Julia Green. 

Walton, Alice G. "New Study Links Facebook To Depression: But Now We Actually Understand Why."
Forbes, 8 Apr. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/04/08/
new-study-links-facebook-to-depression-but-now-we-actually-understand-why/#22d84341e6d8.
Accessed 8 Apr. 2018.