I tend to agree that such feelings are rooted in personal issues. However I think it's also true that Facebook status updates can act as a catalyst for making those feelings bubble up in someone, when that person is trying to live their own lives without being reminded of "what could have been" etc.
This captures the sentiment. Sure its a 'personal problem' to be angry/envious that your friend from college just bought a new sports car and you're trying to figure out how to cover the cost of a smog check on your old van. But it is also entirely human. All too often we rate ourselves by the accomplishments or activities of others. This can be toxic. Disconnecting from the social graph, if only to prevent additional irritation of emotional scars, is a good thing.
I believe that the author perfectly illustrates the root of what really motivates behavior on social networks. It's very much about displaying your life as you want it seen, and choosing what to like, post, phrase posts and upload around that idea.
You may argue that the above is merely a cynical point of view (Or that the author just has emotional issues), but you risk missing the opportunity to (attempt to) objectively think about what motivates people/yourself to post on social networks with such wide audiences.
I would agree except.... people aren't real on facebook (or Twitter, blogs and forums for that matter).
The emotions I felt when reading my facebook news feed were not the same emotions I had when hanging out with these people in real life.
Before I called it quits I found myself hiding and deleting people because of the things they were willing to say and do on Facebook that they would never say or do in-person.
So, maybe it was a personal problem for me too. But the solution was to get rid of the medium.
I agree. If social networks invoke those negative feelings within a person, it definitely indicates something that person has to deal with. I'm sure there are people driven by these emotions, but have hopes that friends and family are sharing to share and liking because they like things, not merely to keep score.
"it definitely indicates something that person has to deal with"
I don't agree. On facebook you see idealized lives of others and it can be pretty depressing.
You see others going on vacation but you don't see them fighting with relatives ( ok, I see that, it just annoys me) and you can start thinking that their lives are better than yours.
I don't know if this is an accurate source, but I think this can be a problem for not so (mentally) stable people: (They could suffer from this without facebook too, but the dose on facebook is much bigger than in a close friend circle.)
> On facebook you see idealized lives of others and it can be pretty depressing.
I'm very sorry that you feel this way, but if you feel depressed for other peoples idealized lives, you have a problem that has nothing to do with your friends or Facebook.
Feeling guilt, anger, and envy reading a social network sounds like a personal problem and not entirely the fault of the people posting updates.