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It is official. You can now lay the blame for most if not all of your life problems directly on Mark Zuckerburg, or at least on the monster he has created. Yes, apparently Facebook has spawned many mini monsters of various sorts and types and unleashed them on the unsuspecting world. Studies are rolling in from every university and college around the globe showing without a doubt that Facebook and the amount of time you spend there or the number of friends that are listed for you may directly impact how narcissistic you are, how well you perform at school or work and yes, even how much weight you accidentally gain. Now, a few of those studies are suggesting that it might have something to do with how well you do in face to face, social settings. You know, how you interact with real people?
The concept behind these studies is that of "licensing". After being on Facebook for a while and talking to the same circle of friends, you become secure, a little more bold, even entitled that your thoughts are universally acceptable and why not? Most people, even those who have several hundred "friends" on the social media site may only really interact, at least with any real substance, with only a handful of those people.
They winnow the numbers down until they have found an audience so similar to their message or so afraid of them that they are allowed and in some cases, encouraged in their views on all topics. They are never rebuked, rebuffed or called out because they simply stop answering their naysayers, they unfriend them or they even block them. Entitlement like this on social media leads to the same bratty attitude in real life, even face to face, eventually. People are literally shocked that others are going to argue with them on any topic, from religion and politics to movies and music.
Strangely, another study found that licensing happens with other behaviors as well, correlated with the number of Facebook friends. After interacting on the site, volunteers in a study ate more of a high calorie food and reported fewer feelings of guilt than those who were offered the same food without previously checking in to Facebook. Licensing allowed them to feel like they had somehow "earned" the food that they wanted, even if they were trying to diet. Whether it was the positive interaction of talking to like minded people or the sense of power that they got from Facebook was not established.
I am on and off - I play two of the games (not the ville ones though, those annoy the stars right out of me) and harass a few friends. I don't stay for very long at a time though unless I am playing the game. It keeps me sane.
Yes absolutely, Facebook is extremely addictive... kids as young as 14 or 15 become a member by showing the wrong age, as there is no way of knowing what age one actually is.... its leading to a variety of problems, both social and psychological... very good article... thanks for this... :)
With the pros that social networks have brought us have come many cons. Bullying online has reached new levels as bullying can no go viral and the people bullying don't have the personal contact (so it feels much less harmful). It has always created laziness and people tend to get out much less and spend more time on their computers now. And those cover images have lead to people thinking so highly of themselves that FB is becoming more and more of an ego war by the day. Thought provoking article Amie.
I blame Facebook for everything! Just kidding- I don't, but boy, it sounds good.
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