After posting our survey around the internet and collecting responses, we’re ready to start comparing our results to the studies mentioned in our previous post regarding Facebook, depression, and anger.
You’ll recall that that post centered on a new study released by Eversave.com where they found that 85% of women said their Facebook friends sometimes annoyed them. Our results, from polling all Facebook users (not just women), found that 88% had been actively annoyed by their friends’ Facebook posts.
So that matches up. When asked why they used Facebook, our respondents were split right down the middle: 46% said to keep friends informed about their lives while 54% said to share information. Again, not particularly different than Eversave’s survey.
34% of our respondents said “complaining all the time” was the most annoying behavior they encountered on Facebook. User comments suggested:
“People criticizing other people”
“Sharing trivial details”
“Sharing inappropriate comments like, someone’s poo poo smells. That’s not something everyone needs to know.”
The biggest surprise? No one voted for users “bragging about their children.” My guess is that our respondents represent a younger age group who doesn’t encounter this often—or, of course, it could be that pictures of babies and little kids running around playgrounds just aren’t that upsetting.
(Or could it be that earthquakes, tsunamis, the threat of economic collapse and government shutdown in the United States, revolution in the Middle East, nuclear meltdowns, and the fight over labor unions is distracting people from angrily reading Facebook posts?)
We couldn’t replicate the Retrevo Inc. study that found 48% of Facebook/Twitter users update their profile in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. Only a mere 11% of our respondents admitted to being that passionate about their social media profiles.
As for visiting Facebook or Twitter for their primary morning news source, we found only 23% of respondents (compared to 40% in a Retrevo Inc. study) browse their news feeds as a replacement for newspapers, websites, and television news.
Today there is considerable research attempting to discover if social media sites bring people closer together or drive us apart. Our survey found that—from a social media users’ point of view (we don’t know what non-users like Grandma or Mom and Dad would have to say)—sites like Twitter and Facebook are making 76% of users feel more connected with friends, family, and acquaintances.
Respondents willing to admit that Facebook has them feeling more lonely than before they signed up is a paltry 11%, further indicating that we can assume most social media users consider the sites to be somewhat beneficial.
It’s hard to believe research and reports that say Facebook leads to depression and other mental health problems. We remain skeptical: while Facebook (and Twitter) have the potential to cause strong “left behind syndrome” (the feeling that you missed out on a party or fun event) and depression, they also help new friends bond and old friends stay connected. In fact, it’s a lot like going out drinking—hit the bottle too much and you’ll end up lonely and depressed even when you’re surrounded by people; drink moderately for special occasions and these social events can make your life seem extra warm and fuzzy.
So review those party photo albums, post annoying links on your friends’ walls—just, please, please, don’t obsess over it. If our survey is any indication, most of you aren’t unhealthily stalking your own news feeds. That’s good. Now go out and continue to meet people in real life. And then friend them on Facebook. In that order.
