Facebook...The Good or the Bad...Your Say!

[blondguy]

Hi Everybody

Without a doubt Facebook is one of the best social media sites. I have been on FB for a long time and found it invaluable yet very stressful at times whilst having anxiety and/or depression or even just checking it every day.

Your views on FB, its impact on your mental health, well being, whether good or not so good are more than welcome.

Thankyou for reading my thread topic!

my kind thoughts

Paul

[BeKindRewind4Life]

Facebook is both good and bad, special interest groups make it a good place, but they existed in forums long before Facebook. The bad: in 2014 Facebook changed users feeds to deliberately manipulate their emotions as part of a study they did without the consent of users. Facebook has also been caught out using photos of peoples deceased children in advertising because users give Facebook consent to use their material they upload for those purposes including their photos. Facebook also will cause issues if you want to terminate/delete your account as they use (Single Sign On) across many sites now, and if you log on with facebook to a site that doesn't have a facility to change your login to a non-social media one, you will find that you lose access to that 3rd party site. Facebook has also been used as a platfrom streaming serious crimes live because of the fact that it lets anyone post live images, and as the four corners episode demonstrated it puts revenue on views of media above the well being of users because it gets advertising revenue whilst people watch. There are studies on the internet of FB negative effects that weren't carried out by FB. What people post on Facebook are positive aspects of their lives, their best photos and events, these are the personas of a persons life, but it has been shown to have a negative impact on users because they compare their lives consciously or subconsciously to a persona, not a persons actual life.

[blondguy]

Hello BeKind

Welcome and thankyou for your input in the discussion too!

I hear you loud and clear. As you said FB has its positives which are invaluable to people. I also understand and agree with you re the negatives too

You mentioned "What people post on Facebook are positive aspects of their lives, their best photos and events, these are the personas of a persons life, but it has been shown to have a negative impact on users because they
compare their lives consciously or subconsciously to a persona, not a persons actual life"

This is spot on....Facebook always refer to the 1st amendment of the US constitution where Free Speech is concerned....even allowing some serious crime to be streamed globally. This is woeful corporate conduct

I do respect and understand the positives that FB has to offer people that find happiness in the platform.

Great to have you as part of the Beyond Blue Forums BeKind 🙂

Have a great weekend

Paul

[lexy_r]

Personally I have recently removed myself from social media. I’m still a “member” of Facebook so I get emails about event invitations etc. However I have found social media to be a significant trigger to my “I’m not good enough” thought pattern.

Its actually been quite refreshing to distance myself

[blondguy]

Hi Lexy_r

Thankyou for being a part of the discussion re FB 🙂

I was a member of FB when it started and it was okay yet with my low self esteem it was doing me more harm than good.

Your post is one of the best (as in spoken from the heart) I have read where having a 'tired mind' is concerned!

Lexy mentioned "However I have found social media to be a significant trigger to my “I’m not good enough” thought pattern"

Lexy also mentioned "Its actually been quite refreshing to distance myself "

Thankyou for the breath of fresh air Lexy...I really hope you can stick around the forums if you wish!

my kind thoughts

Paul

[quirkywords]

LexySorry you feel they Social media makes you feel you are not good enough. I suppose my experience is very different as I see people just letting me know about their lives and I don’t compare myself. Also may I am lucky the people I know in FB are supportive and at all judgmental.

I am sad that your friends make you feel like that and good for you to realise this and move away from social media. like any new tool we must be careful and practice caution.

Quirky

[blondguy]

Hi Quirky

Thanks for your valued help on the FB thread (and so many others too). You dont have feel sorry for Lexy as she has a good point where social media being a trigger for her own issues are concerned.

Facebook is still not moderated and can exacerbate a persons anxiety/depression

Lexy is still a member of FB as she mentioned above. You dont have to be sad for someone that has made a choice that benefits their own well being. It only my humble opinion....but...good on her. Facebook has its good qualities as I mentioned above..I have family and friends on FB and they enjoy the benefits it provides

Some people with even slight OCD can also find themselves checking their FB account many times a day..(needy) to check that their friends 'like' what they are posting

There are psychologists and psychiatrists that stress not to become a part of Facebook so we can heal more effectively without seeing how wonderfully everyone else is doing

Facebook is good value for some that are doing well and maybe havent seen a psychologist as they dont want to discuss their personal problems

Always great to see you Quirky

my kind thoughts

Paul

[BeKindRewind4Life]

I have decided to quit Facebook over the next year, I have removed people that I am either not friends with (actual friends/close friends), associates, or family. My list of people consequently has very few people on it, and it is somewhat serene. The people on this list (apart from associates), I have personal friendships with, and I know what their "real" lives are, the highs and the lows, so I'm not comparing myself to their facebook persona, because I know who they really are. I will eventually tell the associates to email me if they need to contact me. Before I remove myself however, I will unlink all my associated facebook accounts, many sites use single sign on (Login with Facebook) and have different procedures for unlinking. Once this is done I shall backup photos, links and any data I need (Facebook does provide a way to download all archived data), and then I shall delete my account, knowing that probably it still exists as a disabled record on their servers.

From here on out I can go back to the old ways, using forums if I need an answer instead of joining "Groups", contacting friends via email, or skype, and not being distracted by things that really don't matter or take up valuable time. By doing this for me means I can have as much or as little involvement in the world as I want, it will no longer notify me if someone likes what I think, it won't notify me if some random person wants to add me as a friend, and I will get to choose if I see advertising or news. I have come to realise that I don't need social media, and it certainly doesn't need me.

[blondguy]

Hi BeKindRewind4Life and Everyone...New members posts are more than welcome!

Thankyou for the refreshing/positive post and taking the time to write it too 🙂

You post is a huge bonus for people that are getting rid of the mental 'clutter' in their lives. (no offense to the people that enjoy FB of course)

I was tempted to sign up again to be a part of a mental health FB page yet it took me so long time to have my FB account deleted in the late 1990's...I just think it will be a headache with checking my account and compete with people that are 'very happy' with their lives. My profile just stayed online for circa 4 years after I deleted it....ugh

If memory serves when I deleted my account the FB T&C's came up stating that my photo's remained the property of FB for circa 7-9 years...and I had to tick this to disable my account unfortunately

BeKindRewind mentioned "By doing this for me means I can have as much or as little involvement in the world as I want, it will no longer notify me if someone likes what I think, it won't notify me if some random person wants to add me as a friend, and I will get to choose if I see advertising or news. I have come to realise that I don't need social media, and it certainly doesn't need me"

Apologies to the pro FB members. With my anxiety/depression I had to reduce my psychological 'baggage' and dump FB. It was a ball and chain for me and was no help to my recovery

BeKindRewind has posted a wise and balanced viewpoint above that may help others help themselves

my kind thoughts

Paul

[LeeA18]

I recently removed a lot of my “friends” from Facebook. I have less than 100 people on mine.

My ex, who I recently split from and we were apparently friends, deleted and blocked me. That really hurt. We were good friends before we got together and have mutual friends. So I decided I needed to deactivate my account for a little bit for my mental health. It activates itself every 7 days so I’ll just keep going on every week and deactivate it. It is odd not having it to scroll through but after what he did, I went downhill so I have to focus on myself.

[blondguy]

Hi LeeA18

Thankyou for helping out with your experience on Facebook.

You are very proactive. Our health is paramount and anything else is secondary. I am sorry that your 'friends' deleted and blocked you after splitting with your partner

You are strong Lee

my kind thoughts

Paul