DO INCESSANT COMPARISONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA GENERATE FACEBOOK ENVY?
1. IntroductionSome body of research has produced mixed findings as regards the distinctive utilization of surveillance on Facebook that is supposed to cause feelings of envy. Surveillance use implies employing Facebook to keep informed or fully aware of what other individuals are doing. People employing Facebook for surveillance reasons deliberately use it to assimilate other individuals' personal information (Buran, 2015), being expected to notice specific aspects that activate feelings of envy. Facebook envy produces depression symptoms: Facebook use is associated with Facebook envy, and the latter is related to depression. (Tandoc Jr. et al., 2015)
2. Literature Review
A large body of research demonstrates that when conceiving impressions of other individuals (Anderson et al., 2015), it is unproblematic for recurrent Facebook users to recollect the remarks and images published by their Facebook pals. As individuals are stimulated to make positive self-presentations (Pera, 2015), the remarks and images published by Facebook pals are socially required. Regularly inspecting other individuals' disclosed positive life events (Nica, 2016), in addition to periodically examining their images of exultant moments (Petcu, 2015), offers Facebook users a conviction (Peters, 2015a, b) that other people are joyful and lead satisfactory lives. In opposition to their own life events (Willow and Keefer, 2015), which may not be permanently merry and beneficial (Popescu Ljungholm, 2015), recurrent Facebook users may think that life is unjust. (Chou and Edge, 2012)
3. Methodology
Our empirical data are collected from replicated surveys concerning the evolution of technology adoption and usage (U.S. adults), Facebook network size, the impact of technology on relationships, by cell phone, social media, and online dating status, and social networking site use by age group. Emotions after reading comments are affected by separate features, e.g. predominant mood (Popescu, 2016) and personality attributes. There is a beneficial mitigating impact of tie strength (Ionescu, 2016) on the link between the substance of comments and the feeling of contentment contingent on the process of emotional contagion. Positive emotions are more frequent than negative ones when browsing Facebook. (Lin and Utz, 2015) Complementary findings suggest that a user who inspects loosely an acquaintance's profile tends to perceive a flawless account of that person's existence that makes the latter appear content, attractive, and prosperous. (Vogel and Rose, 2016)
4. Results
Recent meta-analytic evidence demonstrates that the supply of social attractiveness is distributed in a group setting: if Facebook users regard their social attractiveness as inferior to that of other individuals (Nica et al., 2016), they feel subservient and thus eclipsed. Envy may generate depression, i.e. Facebook use brings about hopelessness (Peters, 2016) when it activates the feeling of malevolence (Peters and Besley, 2016) among users. Surveillance use of Facebook may diminish depression when it does not activate feelings of envy, but it may cause depression when it initiates Facebook envy. When Facebook use and depression are associated with envy, employing Facebook for surveillance adversely produces depression. (Tandoc Jr. et al., 2015) (Figures 1-5)
Figure 1 Impact of technology on relationships, by cell phone, social media, and online dating status Major impact Minor impact Smartphone 15 21 owner Cell phone 6 12 owner No cell 5 10 phone Social media 15 21 user Not a social 6 13 media user Online dater 40 28 Not an 9 16 online dater Source: Pew Research Center. Our February 2017 survey. N=1,150 adults. Note: Among those in committed relationships, the % within each group who say technology has had a major vs. minor impact on their relationship. Note: Table made from bar graph. Figure 2 Social networking site use by age group (2005-2017) All internet users 9% 92% 18-29 8% 80% 30-49 7% 75% 50-64 6% 67% 65+ 1% 48% Source: Pew Research Center. Our February 2017 survey. N=1,074 adults. Note: % of internet users in each age group who use social networking sites, over time. Note: Table made from line graph. Figure 3 Facebook--A must for U.S. teens 2016 2017 facebook 95% 96% Twitter 14% 26% Instagram 2% 13% myspace 26% 9% You Tube 8% 9% tumblr. 3% 7% Google 2% 5% pinterest 1% 3% Source: Pew Research Center, Statista, and Mashable. Our February 2017 survey. N=1,100 teens (ages 14-17). Note: % of U.S. teenage social media users who have an account with 8 social media sites. Note: Table made from bar graph. Figure 4 Facebook network size 1-150 26% 151-300 26% 301-600 25% 601 + 21% Source: Pew Research Center. Our January 2017 survey. N=1,200 teens (ages 14-17). Note: Among teen Facebook users, the % with the specified number of friends in their network. Note: Table made from pie chart. Figure 5 The evolution of technology adoption and usage (U.S. adults) Use the internet 52% 91% Have broadband at home 1% 74% Use social media 5% 73% Own a smartphone 35% 78% Own a tablet 3% 54% Source: Pew Research Center. Our January 2017 survey. N=1,300 adults. Note: Internet use figures based on pooled analysis of all surveys conducted during each calendar year. Note: Table made from line graph.
5. Discussion
Previous emerging empirical evidence has established that the correspondence tendency (Machan, 2016a, b) takes place when Facebook users formulate attributions (Cheung and Leung, 2016) regarding individuals whom they have never come across before (Ion, 2015), presupposing that contentment is a permanent feature (Lewis, 2016) of their dispositions (Fabricio, 2016) and that they incessantly enjoy satisfactory lives. For individuals they do know directly, their previous interplays with them (Lindberg, 2016) assist Facebook users in circumventing the temptation of correspondence bias (Horowitz, 2015) and identifying the external aspects (Schor, 2016) operating: it is the opportunities (Svizzero and Tisdell, 2016) that make their pals content. (Chou and Edge, 2012)
6. Conclusions
The extant literature has largely attempted to prove that if individuals are mindful (Radulescu, 2015) of the possible vulnerabilities (Anae, 2016) leading to intervals spent on Facebook, they curtail their routine (Hurd, 2016) or become more aware (Terry, 2016) of the negative feelings of envy (Hayes and Jeffries, 2016) bringing about exposure (Popescu Ljungholm, 2016) to other individuals' personal information. If users more swiftly categorize a negative feeling (Weede, 2016) as envy (Bratu, 2016a, b), they are affected (Lesko and Niccolini, 2016) and identify some kind of assistance (Kunnanatt, 2016) quickly enough to circumvent symptoms of depression. (Tandoc Jr. et al., 2015)
REFERENCES
Anae, Melani (2016). "Teu Le Va: Samoan Relational Ethics," Knowledge Cultures 4(3): 117-130.
Anderson, C. W., Emily Bell, and Clay Shirky (2015). "Post-Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present," Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 7(2): 32-123.
Bratu, Sofia (2016a). "The Critical Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication," Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations 15: 232-238.
Bratu, Sofia (2016b). "Processes Underlying Audiences' Interactions with Organizations on Social Media," Review of Contemporary Philosophy 15: 132-138.
Buran, Sumeyra (2015). "Correspondence between Cyborg Body and Cyber Self," Journal of Research in Gender Studies 5(2): 290-322.
Cheung, Fanny Sau-Lan, and Wing-Fai Leung (2016). "Facebook Users' Habits in Getting Commercial Information: A Study on Hong Kong Students," Economics, Management, and Financial Markets 11(3): 56-71.
Chou, Hui-Tzu Grace, and Nicholas Edge (2012). "'They Are Happier and Having Better Lives than I Am': The Impact of Using Facebook on Perceptions of Others' Lives," Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 15(2): 117-121.
Fabricio, Branca Falabella (2016). "Repetition-Differentiation in an Online Debate on Sexualities: Re-Imagining Identity Meanings," Journal of Research in Gender Studies 6(1): 241-261.
Hayes, Sharon, and Samantha Jeffries (2016). "Romantic Terrorism? An Auto-Ethnographic Analysis of Gendered Psychological and Emotional Tactics in Domestic Violence," Journal of Research in Gender Studies 6(2): 38-61.
Horowitz, Amir (2015). "Functionalism, The Computer Model of the Mind, and Causal Connections," Analysis and Metaphysics 14: 59-67.
Hurd, Heidi M. (2016). "The Innocence of Negligence," Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 8(2): 48-95.
Ion, Constantin Gh. (2015). "Husserl, Habermas, and the Lifeworld as the Overall Horizon within which Individuals Act," Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations 14: 115-120.
Ionescu, Luminita (2016). "E-Government and Social Media as Effective Tools in Controlling Corruption in Public Administration," Economics, Management, and Financial Markets 11(1): 66-72.
Kunnanatt, James Thomas (2016). "3D Leadership--Strategy-Linked Leadership Framework for Managing Teams," Economics, Management, and Financial Markets 11(3): 30-55.
Lesko, Nancy, and Alyssa Niccolini (2016). "Historicizing Affect in Education," Knowledge Cultures 4(2): 19-35.
Lewis, Tyson E. (2016). "The Delicate Taste for Democracy: Rethinking the Radical Political Possibilities of Taste in Visual Culture Art Education," Knowledge Cultures 4(5): 81-94.
Lin, Ruoyun, and Sonja Utz (2015). "The Emotional Responses of Browsing Facebook: Happiness, Envy, and the Role of Tie Strength," Computers in Human Behavior 52: 29-38.
Lindberg, Staffan I. (2016). "Ordinal Versions of V-Dem's Indices: When Interval Measures Are Not Useful for Classification, Description, and Sequencing Analysis Purposes," Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 8(2): 76-111.
Machan, Tibor R. (2016a). "Individualism in the Right Key," Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 8(1): 11-19.
Machan, Tibor R. (2016b). "The Morality of Gregarious Egoism," Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 8(2): 7-29.
Nica, Elvira (2016). "Will Technological Unemployment and Workplace Automation Generate Greater Capital-Labor Income Imbalances?," Economics, Management, and Financial Markets 11(4): 68-74.
Nica, Elvira, Cristina Manole, and Ana-Madalina Potcovaru (2016). "Competition in the Worldwide Workplace: Economic Globalization and Labor Rights," Journal of Self-Governance and Management Economics 4(3): 73-79.
Pera, Aurel (2015). "Cognitive Psychology, Mathematical Reasoning, and Organizational Creativity," Review of Contemporary Philosophy 14: 156-161.
Petcu, Carmen (2015). "Language, Subjectivity, and Psychoanalysis in Kristeva's Detective Novels," Analysis and Metaphysics 14: 94-100.
Peters, Michael A. (2015a). "The History and Practice of Lying in Public Life," Review of Contemporary Philosophy 14: 43-56.
Peters, Michael A. (2015b). "The University in the Epoch of Digital Reason: Fast Knowledge in the Circuits of Cybernetic Capitalism," Analysis and Metaphysics 14: 38-58.
Peters, Michael A. (2016). "Dissident Thought: Systems of Repression, Networks of Hope," Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 8(1): 20-36.
Peters, Michael A., and Tina Besley (2016). "'We Never Expel a Foreigner'--Globalism, Interconnectivity and the Experiment of the Open Society," Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 8(2): 112-126.
Popescu, Gheorghe H. (2016). "Does Economic Growth Bring about Increased Happiness?," Journal of Self-Governance and Management Economics 4(4): 27-33.
Popescu Ljungholm, Doina (2015). "E-Governance and Public Sector Reform," Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 7(2): 7-12.
Popescu Ljungholm, Doina (2016). "Organizational Social Capital and Performance Management," Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations 15: 108-114.
Radulescu, Adina (2015). "The Cognitive Impact of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) and Machine Translation (MT) on Professional Legal Translators," Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 7(2): 60-65.
Schor, Juliet (2016). "Debating the Sharing Economy," Journal of Self-Governance and Management Economics 4(3): 7-22.
Svizzero, Serge, and Clement Tisdell (2016). "The Post-2015 Global Development Agenda: A Critical Analysis," Journal of Self-Governance and Management Economics 4(1): 72-94.
Tandoc Jr., Edson C, Patrick Ferrucci, and Margaret Duffy (2015). "Facebook Use, Envy, and Depression among College Students: Is Facebooking Depressing?," Computers in Human Behavior 43: 139-146.
Terry, April (2016). "Reconceptualizing Gender: A Historical Perspective from Structure to Process and Intersectionality," Journal of Research in Gender Studies 6(2): 69-82.
Vogel, Erin A., and Jason P. Rose (2016). "Self-reflection and Interpersonal Connection: Making the Most of Self-presentation on Social Media," Translational Issues in Psychological Science 2(3): 294-302.
Weede, Erich (2016). "Geopolitics, Institutions, and Economics: On the Rise and Decline of Civilizations," Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 8(1): 177-220.
Willow, Anna J., and Samantha Keefer (2015). "Gendering ExtrACTION: Expectations and Identities in Women's Motives for Shale Energy Opposition," Journal of Research in Gender Studies 5(2): 93-120.
AUREL PERA aurel.pera@ucv.ro University of Craiova
How to cite: Pera, Aurel (2017). "Do Incessant Comparisons on Social Media Generate Facebook Envy?," Analysis and Metaphysics 16: 117-123.
Received 18 April 2017 * Received in revised form 20 August 2017
Accepted 23 August 2017 * Available online 18 November 2017
doi:10.22381/AM1620177
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
Author: | Pera, Aurel |
---|---|
Publication: | Analysis and Metaphysics |
Article Type: | Report |
Date: | Jan 1, 2017 |
Words: | 1976 |
Previous Article: | DEMOCRATIC FORMS OF WORKPLACE GOVERNANCE. |
Next Article: | THE ETHICS OF ENVY ON FACEBOOK. |
Topics: |