February 4th, 2004 was a date that changed the world forever. On this day ten fateful years ago, an invention revolutionized the Internet, transforming the ways in which people communicate. What was this innovative creation? The answer is quite simple: Facebook. What started off as the idea of a college student is now one of the most widely used social networking services in the world, with a staggering total of 1.26 billion users and counting. Offering its users the ability to connect with people from all over the world, to create a wide network of friendships, and to develop a better understanding of the world around them, it is no wonder that the site maintains its popularity. But how good is it, really? New studies have found that users who spend too much time on Facebook can become depressed. Many people have dismissed these findings as nonsense, but not me. Although Facebook provides its users with many favorable services, for all its worth many of its aspects have the potential to upset- and eventually depress -its users. Facebook causes users to compare themselves to others, inspires jealousy, allows for online harassment, and instills disappointment through wasting time that could have been spent on other things.

The way Facebook is set up practically encourages users to compare themselves to other users. The moment that users log in, their news feeds appear, broadcasting the latest information from any number of their Facebook friends. From there, they can see that Brandon is now the proud owner of a brand new car, or that Alicia is now in a relationship with a super-attractive guy, or that Connor got accepted into the college of his dreams or that Sarah just got a designer bag for her birthday or any other number of things. The point is: through Facebook, users can see into the lives of other people, and if these other people have things that the users do not, then this can make the users upset. People have always had a desire to be successful, to be liked, to make something of their lives, even if they may not realize or admit to it. People are quite narcissistic in terms of always wanting to be number one, and in flaunting their talents to make sure others know who is best. So when people are on Facebook and they see somebody who “has it all,” comparisons are almost always guaranteed. People have constant reminders shoved into their heads when on the site; they are constantly reminded that one person has more Facebook friends than they do, or that another person has more likes on their profile picture, or any other number of things that make people feel as if they are less important or are not good enough. And once these reminders are seen, it is impossible to forget them. The reminders stay in the background, constantly resurfacing and negatively affecting people- and with new stories on Facebook news feeds every day that could add on to this negativity it is no wonder, in this regard, that Facebook can make its users depressed.

It probably does not help that constant comparisons can also lead to jealousy. I have first-hand experience of this. I logged onto Facebook one day to see all of these photos of my friends going ice skating, laughing and having a good time. Instantly, I felt hurt and confused. I wondered why my friends had not invited me along, and I envied the fact that they were having so much fun while I was stuck at home. This very thing can and does happen to users on Facebook other than myself, and the results are the same. When people see events that they are not invited to, statuses that they are not tagged in, etc. it can cause them to feel jealous. They speculate about any and every reason that they were not included. They look at other people who were included over themselves, and wonder what qualities got those people invites that did not warrant themselves invites. People thus begin to feel envious, wishing that they were worthy of being invited along but apparently they were not, they would have been having a great time with everybody otherwise. Thus, Facebook can make users feel left out from the posts on its many pages, and over time being left out of any number of things can most definitely make a user feel unworthy and depressed.

Facebook can also imbue users with unfavorable feelings through means other than profile pictures or life events. As with many social media websites, it opens the doors to cyber bullying, online harassment, and other related conflicts. Because there is no face-to-face interaction when messaging someone online, this allows for people to use stronger language that they may not have the courage to say directly to someone. In addition, the messages go directly to the recipient and nobody else can see them, so people do not have to worry about getting caught in the act. All of these factors put together can and do make bullying on Facebook a very plausible thing. I am not saying that getting onto Facebook automatically means that a person is going to get bullied, but cyber bullying does occur on social media sites and Facebook is no exception. The bullying itself is a completely different matter entirely, but it goes without much explanation that bullying in any size, any form, is capable of making its victims feel depressed.

To top it all off, Facebook can make its users feel depressed simply through the amount of time that they waste on it. Facebook is a form of social media after all, and social media, like many other technologies, is addicting. People can become so obsessed with looking into other people’s lives on Facebook, that it can be hard to stop once they have started. Studies have shown that the average user spends at least twenty minutes per Facebook visit, and in most cases, they will visit multiple times in a day. Those twenty-minute sessions add up, and over time will amount to hours and hours of time wasted. Thus, people can become disappointed when they realize a good chunk of their day has been spent doing nothing productive. They can think about all of the things that they could have done with the time spent on Facebook, and beat themselves up over not doing those things instead. It is because of this that Facebook can make users depressed- because they regret spending too much time over trivial things instead of doing what really matters.

Facebook certainly has a lot going for it. The success it has accumulated over the years proves that. But nothing is perfect, and Facebook definitely has its flaws. It indirectly makes users compare themselves to other people, can cause them to be jealous of other people, puts them in a position for cyber bullying, and upsets them for wasting precious time. Combine all of these aspects together, and it is easy to see how Facebook users can become depressed from hitting the “Log In” button too many times. However, there is hope yet, so long as people can remember to put down their phones, get some fresh air, and realize that they do not have to check their news feed every hour, that they do not have to post those photos from that totally sick party the night before. The only thing that Facebook should be capable of changing is the world, not the smiles on people’s faces. Live by that motto, and everything should be fine.