German Study Reveals Social Network's Big Role in Users' Emotional Life
In a joint research study conducted by the Department of
Information Systems of the TU Darmstadt (Prof. Dr. Peter Buxmann) and the
Institute of Information Systems of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Dr.
Hanna Krasnova), Facebook members were surveyed regarding their feelings after
using the platform. More than one-third of respondents reported predominantly
negative feelings, such as frustration. The researchers identified that envying
their "Facebook friends" is the major reason for this result.
Project manager Dr. Hanna Krasnova, who is currently a
post-doctoral researcher at the Humboldt-Universität, explained that,
"Although respondents were reluctant to admit feeling envious while on
Facebook, they often presumed that envy can be the cause behind the frustration
of "others" on this platform -- a clear indication that envy is a
salient phenomenon in the Facebook context. Indeed, access to copious positive
news and the profiles of seemingly successful 'friends' fosters social
comparison that can readily provoke envy. By and large, online social networks
allow users unprecedented access to information on relevant others -- insights
that would be much more difficult to obtain offline." Those who do not
engage in any active, interpersonal communications on social networks and
primarily utilize them as sources of information, e.g. reading friends'
postings, checking news feeds, or browsing through photos, are particularly
subject to these painful experiences.
Envying
Facebook friends leads to a vicious "envy spiral"
Another result of the survey was that about one-fifth of
all recent online/offline events that had provoked envy among the respondents
took place within a Facebook context. This reveals a colossal role of this
platform in users' emotional life. Paradoxically, envy can frequently lead to
users embellishing their Facebook profiles, which, in turn, provokes envy among
other users, a phenomenon that the researchers have termed "envy
spiral."
The leading online and offline envy provokers in Germany
are related to "Travel and Leisure." As Dr. Thomas Widjaja of the TU‑Darmstadt, who was also
involved in the project, put it, "This is a result of numerous vacation
photos posted on Facebook, which are particularly popular among German users.
Facebook
envy fosters dissatisfaction
Based on the survey data, the researchers were also able
to establish a negative link between the envy that arises while on Facebook and
users' general life satisfaction. Indeed, passive use of Facebook heightens
invidious emotions that, in turn, adversely affect users' satisfaction with
their lives. Coauthor Helena Wenninger of the TU‑Darmstadt argued that, "Considering
the fact that Facebook use is a worldwide phenomenon and envy is a universal
feeling, a lot of people are subject to these painful consequences."
The results of the survey will be presented at the
"11th International Conference Wirtschaftsinformatik (Information
Systems)" to be held in Leipzig, Germany, February 27 through March 1,
2013. The researchers plan to conduct a follow-on survey that will explore the
effects of Facebook use on envy and its consequences within various cultures.
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