But how exactly is social media causing us to stress more? In her study on the negative impact of Facebook, researcher Dr Kathy Charles from Edinburgh Napier University suggested that one of the reasons why social networking applications cause stress is that they allow people to have an audience in the form of their friends or followers. The availability of such an audience may lead to some users creating an online image and trying to amass as many likes and retweets as possible by constantly posting statuses, tweets and photos that are perceived as favourable by this audience.
Findings in CivicScience’s survey suggest that people who use social media to improve their image are 4.5 times more likely to feel stressed by social media.The reason for this is that the upkeep of such an image may become strenuous after long periods as users consistently try to please the available audience, which may not always be possible.
Another reason common among various studies is the pressure of always having to keep up with what everyone else is doing. This extends to various aspects of our lives, such as the products we buy, the movies we watch, the clothes we wear, the current events we follow. It even includes the different hashtags that are trending on social media. It would be difficult to argue that the popularity of a particular trend is not in some way aided by social media. The general suggestion is that the more we try to keep up with the trends our friends are following, the greater the chance of us experiencing stress.
Other common reasons why social networking applications may increase stress include the inability to know who is viewing your profile, the ability for workplace officials to view your profile, and various relationship issues such as whether to make a romantic relationship public or not and what to do in the event of a romantic relationship coming to an end (like whether or not to “unfriend” or “unfollow” a former partner).
Perdeby asked students around campus whether they felt social media adds stress to their lives. Faith Makombue, a second-year BCom agribusiness management student, says that she noticed a decrease in stress levels after losing her Blackberry and not being able to access Facebook or WhatsApp as frequently as she did before. “People are always nagging you to attend events and [to] go places on social networking sites. With less access you don’t really know what other people are doing, so you don’t always feel obliged to go in fear of missing out,” Makombue says.
Laurika Stapelberg, a third-year BA student, says that one of the reasons why she avoids most social media applications is that it creates stress and requires a lot of time. “I might create a Facebook profile in the future for business purposes or other similar reasons, but at the moment the only social networking app I use is WhatsApp,” says Stapelberg.
Some argue that social media may actually have a positive effect on our lives due to the nature of social networking applications. A study assessing the value of social networking performed at Cornell University in the United States, suggests that a site such as Facebook could have a positive impact on a person’s self-esteem, because we generally tend to focus on our positive attributes rather than our negative attributes when creating and editing a profile.
Whether or not social networking applications have greater positive or negative effects on our lives is yet to be determined. It is important, however, to keep in mind that the original purpose of social networking sites is to keep us in contact with those around us. If you find that it is not fulfilling this purpose or may be adding stress to your life, then it may be time to consider reducing your time spent on such applications.
