Social networks, spirals of envy?

[Deleted]

The study the author is talking about is linked in the article, just click the link then you'll see a link to it.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwa...kes-us-bitter/

"If we needed any more reason to believe that social media is doing almost exactly the opposite of what it set out to – making us less instead of more social and more instead of less fragmented – here’s a good one. A new study finds that there’s another element to social media’s growing list of negative effects: A “spiral” of envy that develops when you see your Facebook friends exceling or enjoying life in ways that you aren’t. The good news is you’re not alone in your bitterness. The bad news is that the solution (aside from shutting down your account) isn’t entirely straightforward.

We’ve all felt Facebook-inspired pangs of jealousy when we flip through the pictures of friends lounging on the beach when we’ve just trudged through the snow to the office. These feelings of jealousy or envy have to do with the comparisons that we implicitly make between ourselves and our “friends,” or in many cases, our distant online acquaintances.

The researchers who headed the new study (which has not been published in a peer-review journal, but will be presented at an upcoming conference) asked 600 adults in Germany about their feelings while using social media. About a third of the participants said they experienced mainly negative feelings, like frustration. And, as the researchers determined, the central cause for feelings of frustration was overwhelmingly envy, above others.

The social media users also revealed the contexts in which their last experience of envy had taken place: Just over 70% said it was in real life, but about 20% said it while using Facebook (FB) per se. “This magnitude of envy incidents taking place on FB alone is astounding,” the authors write, “providing evidence that FB offers a breeding ground for invidious feelings.” They also describe what they call the “self-promotion – envy spiral,” in which users who feel envious of their social media friends beef up their own profiles in response, creating a vicious cycle, in which “the envy-ridden character of the platform climate can become even more pronounced.”

Dr. Hanna Krasnova, who led the study at the Humboldt-Universität, points out how different social interactions in social media vs. real life can be. “Indeed, access to copious positive news and the profiles of seemingly successful ‘friends’ fosters social comparison that can readily provoke envy,” she says. “By and large, online social networks allow users unprecedented access to information on relevant others — insights that would be much more difficult to obtain offline.”

The idea that (envy-inducing) information is considerably less visible offline is interesting. In a world without social media, we would only be subject to our acquaintances’ tantalizing vacation pictures if they were close friends and sitting down for a cup of coffee. In these cases, the richness of the honest-to-goodness interpersonal communication would probably eclipse feelings of jealousy. But when it comes to online interaction, we’re assaulted with the annoying highlights of the lives of every Tom, Dick, and Harry we’ve clicked a button to accept into our lives – whether they’re actual friends, or people we’ve only met a time or two. Ironically, though we probably don’t have offline relationships with too many of our Facebook acquaintances, their online presence is enough to invoke these negative feelings, as we inevitably compare ourselves to them.

“From a provider’s perspective,” the authors conclude, “our findings signal that users increasingly perceive Facebook as a stressful environment, which may endanger platform sustainability.”

It’s unclear what Facebook’s future will bring. Other platforms may inevitably gain ground in the years to come, as it seems unlikely that the social media monster will be the forerunner for many more. In any event, hopefully, as we realize what a poor surrogate social media is for real social interaction, and how damaging it can be to us in certain ways, we’ll refrain from it a bit (easier said than done, of course), or, perhaps, newer websites with a more “human” element will take over.

Do you think that social media can actually do what it set out to – that is, bring us closer instead of further from one another? What changes would have to take place?"

[Skippy88]

I don't think it's just social networks though. The same thing happens in real life at the office, family reunions, or a night on the town with friends as people love to talk about their vacation or their brand new car. I try not to post those type of things on my facebook for that very reason.

[Deleted]

I don't think it's just social networks though. The same thing happens in real life at the office, family reunions, or a night on the town with friends as people love to talk about their vacation or their brand new car. I try not to post those type of things on my facebook for that very reason.

True, but the article touches that point too. I mean ok, you're at work and meet friends and family. But... how much? I mean, you don't have family reunions every day, you go to work every day but you don't hear everyone talk about their fancy stuff every day and so on. On many social networks, you see pictures or updates from friends or people you barely know because you met them once and added them to your friend list with their fancy vacations, new cars, relationships etc.

It's like meeting with family, friends, work colleagues and having all brag in front of you at same time, with pictures included.

[Deleted]

No. I am not jealous of someone that gives off his personal information to advertising corporations. I pity them and I also pity their need to draw the attention of others towards their lifestyle.

We are talking about people who are in need of validating their existence by a bunch of virtual friends. Why would I be jealous on them?

[Venant]

No. I am not jealous of someone that gives off his personal information to advertising corporations. I pity them and I also pity their need to draw the attention of others towards their lifestyle.

We are talking about people who are in need of validating their existence by a bunch of virtual friends. Why would I be jealous on them?

Isn't that like saying there is no quantifiable measurement of success, and therefore there is no reason for envy to exist. Such a philosophy is one step removed from the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality.