According to Ms. Ellison in the article, "On Facebook, Scholars Link Up With Data", one important finding using data collected from Facebook, is that students with low self-esteem and low satisfaction with life accumulated "weak ties." These are non-family members and people they meet who are not close friends. I don't know what information was gathered to help Ellison determine which students had low self-esteem or a dissatisfaction with life, but one thing I know to be true, at least for myself, is that when I tend to feel depressed or distressed, I usually don't choose family members to talk to. Sometimes it helps to get another perspective from someone I don't know and who does not know me. So, I can relate to what Ellison is saying because family members and close friends have most likely already seen me in this state, know the reasons why I'm feeling depressed, and can only offer the same advice they've given before. Also, they tend to be overly critical. Other people, however, are in a position to give me "new perspectives and opportunities."
Ellison also shared what she said others might think a trivial bit of data known as "triadic closure": whether one's friends are also friends of one another. Considering the fact, as Ellison pointed out, that a 2004 study in The American Journal of Public Health suggested that "adolescent girls who are socially isolated and whose friends are not friends with one another experienced more suicidal thoughts," I feel, in the case of students who are in a depressed state, the "friends" on Facebook should be real friends of one another. Sometimes strangers, especially the ones who prey on weak people, will use this depression as an opportunity to take advantage. Real friends will use their time on Facebook to encourage and provide help through tough moments. And those tough times will come for all of us.
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2 comments:
Hmmm. Makes one wonder if people who spend a great deal of time online aren't lonely or escaping, but instead are simply looking for another perspective away from overly-critical family and friends.
OTOH, as is pointed out, real friends online offering support and guidance in writing, where it is always there and not ephemeral as the spoken word is, can be immensely reaffirming.
I can agree with you. I don't choose family first to talk to all the time. This doesn't mean I have low self-esteem; I do it more for the neutral party input. Since the people I ask aren't related to me, there's less chance for bias to be involved.
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