A large part of the population has taken the initiative to revamp their relationship with Facebook and other social media platforms. Whether they are concerned about privacy simply seeking a more peaceful life, Americans are becoming less interested in the dynamics of the social media scene.
Just over half of Facebook users ages 18 and older (54%) say they have adjusted their privacy settings in the past 12 months, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Around four-in-ten (42%) say they have taken a break from checking the platform for a period of several weeks or more, while around a quarter (26%) say they have deleted the Facebook app from their cellphone. All told, some 74% of Facebook users say they have taken at least one of these three actions in the past year.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube have all separately faced scrutiny from conservative lawmakers and pundits over allegations that the social media platforms intentionally suppress conservative and other non-liberal voices. The Pew Research Center found that the vast majority of Republicans think that social platforms, in general, are censoring political speech they find objectionable or disagreeable. Despite these concerns, the poll found that nearly identical shares of Democrats and Republicans (including political independents who lean toward either party) use Facebook. Republicans are no more likely than Democrats to have taken a break from Facebook or deleted the app from their phone in the past year.
Younger users are much more likely to have deleted the Facebook app from their phone and adjusted their privacy settings as opposed to older social media users. And less time on social media leads to more mental stability and a greater feeling of self-worth.
A study conducted by the University of Copenhagen found that many people suffer from “Facebook envy,” with those who abstained from using the popular site reporting that they felt more satisfied with their lives. “When we derive a sense of worth based on how we are doing relative to others, we place our happiness in a variable that is completely beyond our control,” Dr. Tim Bono, author of When Likes Aren’t Enough explained in Healthista. Breaking away from social media helps people focus on themselves as opposed to the filtered and photoshopped images of “Instagram models.”
Stina Sanders, a former model who has 107,000 followers on Instagram, has explained to The Independent how social media sometimes makes her feel like she’s being left out. “I know from my experience I can get FOMO (fear of missing out) when I see my friend’s photos of a party I didn’t go to, and this, in turn, can make me feel quite lonely and anxious,” she told The Independent.
A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology that assessed 5,208 subjects found that overall, regular use of Facebook had a negative impact on an individual’s wellbeing.
I don’t have a “relationship” with social media and that hasn’t changed.
Same here. Don’t think I’m missing anything by not having 100k “friends” I’ve never met.
Young people will learn that today’s BFF can be their worst enemy the next day. Never show your cards. All of us have had to learn that and the sooner the better.
but how are we all going to live without sending pics of our Happy Meals and the eventual output of those same to 10,000,000,000 of our closest friends? Even worse, think of the drop in income to those who rely on knowing when everyone is not in their homes and out eating those meals so that they can visit our domiciles and share in our wealth and socially-correct largesse without bothering us with a real face-to-face meetup?
“H”
Good one. LMAO!
Sgt.
I’ve never had contact with any social media and don’t want any.
Hello. This is contact.
(My pants are neither too tight, nor too loose, and my hands have been washed, thoroughly. So, probably better than most people you meet in public. You’re welcome.)
I left Facebook about 6 months ago for good and couldn’t be happier.
I left all social media about six months ago and couldn’t be happier. My friends have my phone number and can call or text me. Social media is a joke, and it has destroyed families and real friendships.
They can ‘change their privacy settings’ if they want……..it won’t change a thing. When they sign back on, FB will be back to ‘its’ default settings. They are such idiots. Think for minute FB is providing a platform for FREE? This is sheep, the dog will not assist. Pitiful.
Actually all of these so called “social” websites are suppressing truth whichever political side it is attributed to represent. Truth is the enemy of the lies that maintain control of our right for factual information. You want some truth? Read parts 1 and 2 at veteranstoday.com titled: Trump’s ties to Mossad/CIA Pedophile Ring, originally appearing 1-28-18, also found today lower on the page in the top 20 most read articles section. This reveals the extent of this nations peoples total subjugation by organized crime and is vital information exposing past and ongoing plans for our complete enslavement.
It has been said that, every time an advanced civilization meets with a primitive civilization, they don’t have the discipline to deal with new stimuli. So, chaos ensues.
Guns, booze, and Hostess pastries have supposedly caused the deaths of countless, diabetic Indians, incapable of being productive, independently.
Instead of saying that a phone app caused you some kind of emotional breakdown, you could have been buying and selling, and offering personalized insults, to the poorly-targeted ads.
I’m not calling Zuckerberg the next incarnation of Jesus Christ, or even saintly. It’s just that none of the web trolls / career victims have made any obvious attempts to leverage this as a constructive force for good. I mean, you could use social media, to learn how to make things. Some of it is college-level or intellectually challenging. Some is high art, and some is quaint. Only the most importunate propaganda has been blocked.
(Do your dogs, children, elderly people, or migrant laborers get upset when you read it. You know, that kind of media.)
So, how are those of you that still use this “social experiment/plan” doing? Feel content with your lives? With the control you have? Any issues with others? Do you play well with the other kids on the playground?
Do I sound like a psychiatrist? I’m not. But you might hear this from some ‘Officials’ one day who will be asking it due to your posting your mental status on one of the several ‘social media’ sites.It is now common for companies to do research on you via these outlets. Be it for a job, for a review, or for any reason.
Who needs the NSA when you have these ‘social media’ avenues to keep tabs on you.