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Avoiding social media depression

Someone I'm following on Twitter recently retweeted this blog post and I felt compelled to have a look at why you could become depressed using Social Media.

The blog post is actually very interesting and quite compelling. In it the author outlines the concept or idea behind Social Media depression:

• While the premise of Social Networking is to connect with others to build relationships, if we're not careful we can become much more isolated than before we started communicating online


• We engage in comparison. When we see our connections online posting all the wonderful things going on their world, we cannot help but wonder why things are going so well for them - especially if we're in a down or flat time

As the author explains the combination of these two factors "have the potential to create an emotional downward spiral which is the gateway to depression"

So how do you avoid social media depression...the author suggests two ways:

1. Don't believe it - Someone might be telling you they're having a fantastic time but they're probably not telling you about bad stuff that is happening to them. This is really about taking everything in the context in which it is written.
2. Mix it up - Yes use Social Media but don't rely on it as a communication form face time is still the best way to network and to keep up to date with your contacts.

Full post as published by LI Issues on March 09, 2011 (boomark / email).