is facebook making us lonely?
TRANSCRIPT
Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?
Angela Cvetanovska
We are living in isolation
yet we have never been more accessible
Photo By: Jon Downs 2012 , Creative Commons License (Flickr)
The more connected we become, the lonelier we are
Photo By: Sam Woods, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Lonely people may use social media to find social support
Photo By: Gagan Sadana, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Facebook receives 1 trillion page views in a month
Users generate an average of 2.7 billion “likes” and comments every day
Photo By: Nate Bolt, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Lonely people spend more time on Facebook per day than non-lonely individuals
Lonely people are more likely to prefer the wall while extroverts tend to use chat and the wall
Photo By: Hausstaubmilbe, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Facebook is interfering with real friendships
distancing us from each other
making us lonelier
Photo By: Xavier J. Peg, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
35% of adults older than 45 are lonely…
…as opposed to 20% only a few years ago
Photo By: Buyie , Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Loneliness and being alone
are not the same thing Photo By: Johnass , Creative Commons License (Flickr)
We meet fewer people
We gather less
When we gather, our bonds are less meaningful
Photo By: Aung Photography, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Does the Internet make people lonely, or are lonely people more attracted to the Internet?
Photo By: Lee Gillen, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
People who experience loneliness on Facebook…
…are also lonely away from Facebook
Photo By: Benjamin Staudinger, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
People whose friends write to them semi-publicly on Facebook experience less loneliness
Photo By: Lupo Cordero, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Two things can happen when people read their Facebook newsfeed
feel worse about themselves
Photo By: Ash Sethi, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
feel motivated
Facebook is not the reason why we are lonely…
Photo By: David Hill, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
…we are doing it to
Photo By: Stephen Van Gorkum, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Facebook enables us to be social without the embarrassing imperfections of society
accidental revelations awkward pauses face-to-face contact
Photo By: John Morgan, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
We have the perfect result of a social machine
that simplifies status updates, pictures and your wall
Photo By: StewartG, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Photo By: Anja, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
the chance to forget about ourselves
Facebook denies us
the chance to disconnect
Photo By: Almond Dhukka, Creative Commons License (Flickr)
Social media
should not be treated as a cure for loneliness
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-making-us-lonely/308930/
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/09/the-real-reason-facebook-makes-us-unhappy.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margiewarrell/social-media-lonely_b_4034744.html
All images found via Flickr through its Creative Commons License
References