Last week, as I was washing dishes, I heard a story come on the news talking about how Facebook is causing depression for some people. Now, I didn’t doubt this for a second because I know that there is a certain segment of the population that will look for any reason to be depressed. I admit that sounds a little harsh and it is. However, it’s really not going to do anyone any good to write a post titled, “Be sad, it’s not your fault, blame Facebook”.
Apparently, one of the causes of this “Facebook Depression” is that some people compare their lives to others and feel they don’t measure up. Well, I first heard about this while I was washing dishes and I can assure you that my Facebook status at the time was NOT, “I’m washing dishes”. I’m very sorry if this post has stripped you of your illusion that I have a maid. People have a tendency not to post the very mundane aspects of their life on Facebook, even though we all have them. Okay?
Now, if you feel like you just don’t measure up because you only have 47 friends but you see that some of your friends have 1,427 friends keep your chin up. You could always delete them and then they would have one less friend, that’ll teach ‘em. But, the truth is that people who have that many friends may just need to step away from their computer a little more often.
The icing on the cake for me was that I saw this same story in Cosmopolitan magazine and it wasn’t the April 1st issue, I swear. That’s right, in the midst of pages lined with super-models raving about their amazing sex life and super hot dating stories is a cautionary tale of comparing yourself to others. What? The magazine notorious for giving people unrealistic expectations of what life SHOULD be is now pointing the finger at Facebook. In next month’s issue I expect to see an article titled, “How to be beautiful, live like a star and take responsibility for nothing”.
I’m a middle-aged single dad on the verge of foreclosure. And, while you probably won’t see that posted as my Facebook status, rest assured that when it comes to feeling like life is a little anticlimactic at times, you’re not alone.
Photo courtesy, Marinka van Holten (Mrinkk@sxc.hu)
