On February 4th 2004, Mark Zuckerberg first launched the Facebook website. In just over a decade, Facebook has gained over 1.8 billion active users (users that have logged in in the last 30 days). Facebook acted as the catalyst for the eruption of social media. We now have access to countless social media networks that allow us to communicate with friends and followers from all over the world. Social media networks have acquired a significant presence in our daily social lives. “We find people checking their Facebook account and interacting with their Facebook friends on all types of public transport, in coffee shops or around pools.” (Lima) This new form of social behavior has become ingrained into our society. Facebook can be utilized as a convenient tool that enables us to communicate instantly, feel more connected with one another, feel a sense of belonging, and share with our friends and family. However, the site comes with drawbacks and for some users it has shown to be easily abused and can evoke negative feelings and decrease productivity.

Facebook has proven to be very powerful in enhancing people’s social relationships. Our intrinsic social behaviors are driven by the fundamental desire to want to belong and feel connected with one another (Arden 1).  In his article, “To Be or Not to Be (Connected)”, James Arden explains that people are happier when they feel connected, “Awareness that others are online conveys connectedness even when there is no message exchange”. His claim suggests that people can feel connected with one another just by seeing that someone else is online on Facebook and doing the same thing that they are. The innate need to belong and feel connected to one another, as well as the tendency to leap onto bandwagons provides an explanation for why the number of active Facebook users has increased so rapidly over just a small amount of time.

Facebook can bring people closer together and allow them to build and maintain relationships. For example, people can further develop their relationships with friends and family and maintain close contact with people they care about without fear geographical limitations (Suki 2.1). Facebook allows people to post photos and statuses to keep their friends and followers up to date with what they are doing and what is happening in their lives. By visually experiencing information that a friend has posted, people are able to feel a deeper connection and relationship with that person. People can find a sense of belonging and acceptance by being part of a certain Facebook group or receiving likes and comments on their posts from their friends. With new ways to connect and interact, people have new ways to demonstrate their affection for one another and show that they care about them or are interested in them. Liking a person’s photo, sending them a funny post, or a nice message can make them smile and have a positive impact on their day and the relationship they have with that friend.

While there are many instances of smart phones and social networking sites being socially beneficial, they have also often been found to have a negative impact on social relationships. Although Facebook is designed to make us more connected, Tim Kutta, a graduate student in the Florida State Psychology Department claims, “There is evidence that the more people use Facebook the less fulfilled they feel…Such that the more time you use Facebook, the more disconnected you feel”. There is also evidence of a clear correlation between the use of smart phones and social networks and dependency and addictive habits. For many people, smart phones have become a necessity; their phone is the first thing they look at in the morning, and the last thing they look at before going to sleep (Lee, Yu-Kang 1). Spending large amounts of time checking phone notifications, chatting online, and scrolling through feeds can cause people to develop obsessive habits of repeatedly checking or using their phones. These habits can become an issue in public environments such as at school or in the workplace. People who are constantly using their phones and spending time on Facebook may decrease their productivity and limit their connections with classmates and colleagues. Browsing on Facebook on a phone in public can also create a barrier between a person and the people around them. A phone can be used as a tool to avoid public social interaction; when a person stares into their phone they give others the impression that they are busy or unavailable. By using a phone in public, a person may limit their social potential and disregard opportunities to build or make new connections.

Another concerning issue with Facebook is that its use takes away from time spent on actual interactions and leads to the isolation of its users, thus having harmful effects on their overall health and well-being (Lima). Instead of choosing to physically interact with others, people may choose to spend their time on Facebook chatting, scrolling through the news feed, or playing games. This can have a negative impact on the way people interact in person if they begin to spend more time communicating online rather than in person.

Excessive Facebook usage and habitually checking your phone for notifications can lead to compulsive usage and smart phone and Facebook addiction. Compulsive usage of smartphones elevates stress levels and leads to mental health problems such as sleep disturbance and depression. People who are unable to adapt and cope with new technologies in a healthy manner experience technostress. Compulsive smart phone usage and technostress are also linked to psychological traits including locus of control, social interaction anxiety, the need for touch, and materialism. (Lee, Yu-Kang 1). Individuals with an external locus of control are more likely to experience compulsive smartphone usage than internal locus. This is because a person with external locus of control believes that outside forces are the reason for events and outcomes that happen. People with social interaction anxiety often turn to online methods of communicating as it is not as direct and their stress and anxiety levels remain lower. Having social interaction anxiety increases a person’s likelihood of becoming dependent and addicted to their smart phones. People with a need for touch, such as touching others when talking to them or products when grocery shopping, tend to use smart phones more compulsively as the touch screen devices can fulfil their need for touch. Materialistic individuals also tend to be more compulsive users as they lay value in material items and can develop an emotional attachment to their smartphones. Everyone experiences social media and smartphones differently. Specifically, people who have certain psychological traits are more likely to become compulsive and addictive users. Compulsive smart phone and social network usage can increase user’s stress levels, lead to depression, and have a detrimental impact on people’s ability to interact with one another face to face (Lee, Yu-Kang 1).

Social media networks have an effect on the way we communicate with one another in all aspects of our social lives. Sites like Facebook have revolutionized the way people develop romantic relationships. It is becoming more common for couples to meet over the internet before meeting in person. Psychology graduate student Tim Kutta states that meeting people in this way is unconventional as “It allows for vetting and preconceptions to be constructed at your leisure as opposed to all at once when meeting them”. Instead of developing a natural first impression of someone by meeting them in person, users develop an idea of what they think the person may be like before meeting them. Meeting new people in this way can be dangerous and difficult as many people behave differently online than they do in real life and people may not always meet the expectations set by their online persona.

In an attempt to measure the social network’s impact on its users, a social experiment was conducted in Denmark in late 2015. The results of the experiment found that using Facebook, the most widespread social network with over 1.59 billion active users, negatively effects our well-being. The study lasted just one week and consisted of 1,095 participants with a treatment group (participants who took a break from Facebook) and a control group (participants who continued using Facebook). The results of the experiment demonstrated two positive effects that taking a break from Facebook had on the participant’s well-being; it increased their life satisfaction and made their emotions more positive. Interestingly, taking a break from Facebook had a different effect on passive users, heavy users, and users that tend to envy others on Facebook. Heavy Facebook users and envious users reported the most cases of positive changes in well-being.  The negative effects that these kinds of users experienced are likely due to unrealistic social comparison on Facebook and the perception of Facebook as being a meaningless activity. As the study lasted only one week, it is difficult to fully understand the long term effects of quitting Facebook.

Not everyone uses Facebook in the same way, and some people may experience more positive feelings when using the network. There are also different ways in which a user can change their behavior on Facebook in order to avoid experiencing negative feelings. If a user has a tendency to feel envious they could avoid the sections or friend’s profiles that cause these feelings, or if a user finds they are spending too much of their time on the network then they could limit their time spent on Facebook. With such a large number of users, Facebook can be used as an effective means of communicating with almost everyone we know. If we are able to monitor how our emotions change when using and taking a break from Facebook we can make changes to the way we use the network in order to avoid experiencing the negative effects.

The extensive prevalence of Facebook and other social networking websites in society has had a colossal impact on the way people interact with one another online and face- to-face. People have become more connected by Facebook to communicate and share information with one another. Facebook has made it very simple for people to keep in touch with friends and family, post statuses and photos about what they are doing, and create an online representation of themselves to share with other users. With an array of positive impacts on social relationships, social networks like Facebook also bring negative effects. Many people are unable to limit the time they spend using their devices and find trouble managing their time efficiently or keeping their phone away when it is appropriate. Some Facebook and smartphone users have developed such intense habits and addictions that are often influenced by psychological traits and can affect their daily lives and create obstructions in the relationships with the people around them. The rise of social media sites like Facebook has revolutionized and enhanced our social lives, but at the cost of increased feelings of envy by social comparison, sleep disturbance, addiction, and depression.