Yes, social media envy is an actual thing, and it may not only be affecting your Facebook friendships, but your mental state as well. A study done by sociologists at Utah Valley University on 400 college students found that the people who spent more time on Facebook had sadder outlooks on their own lives, as their Facebook friends looked like they were having more fun than they were. When someone sees all their friends hanging out on Facebook, for example, they might feel sad or angry if they weren’t invited. Envy and anger are not good for any friendship.
Facebook Friendships- Everything is in the Public Eye

Many problems are best handled in private with the people involved. However, nowadays, much of the drama is posted online for all the people on Facebook to see. In anger, one friend might post an angry Facebook status, others might offer their opinion, and the friend it’s directed at will get even angrier. Someone might even take something personally that wasn’t directed at them, such as a song lyric, a common Facebook status trend (think, right after a breakup or fight with a friend). This also gives other people on Facebook the opportunity to start drama between friends.
How Well Can You Communicate Online?

On Facebook, much of the communication takes place on wall posts or Facebook chat. As many have seen from text messaging drama, a lot can be misunderstood when not talking face-to-face. Tone of voice is a huge component to conversations between friends, so when all the communication is done online, Facebook friends can take things the wrong way and fuel the fire to the drama, or even start drama that wasn’t there before. Face-to-face communication is being done less and less, so when friends try to solve issues over Facebook, it might only make matters worse.
The Benefits of Facebook Friendships

Facebook isn’t all bad when it comes to managing your friendships and relationships. It can be great for staying connected with friends, getting re-connected with old friends and makes it easier in many cases to plan get-togethers. Some people even form completely new friendships from Facebook.

Even so, those who manage much of their friendships through Facebook should be aware that problems can pop up thanks to social media. Knowing that a lot of these problems caused can be simple misunderstandings, though, can help with the process of working through the drama.


BDST: 1547 HRS, Sep-16, 2013
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