Things are as they are, not as they should be!

Facebook Ke Side Effects?

Heard this a few days ago…
X : I will be off Facebook from now on!
Y : Why, sweety?? Any issue??
X : Yeah, an issue of sorts… It’s just that after looking at the pictures and updates of my Facebook ‘Friends’, I go into depression!
Y : Depression??!!
X : I find that everybody has a rocking life, except me!
A look at any Facebook wall and you see…
  • Friends have been to exotic locations for vacations and some seem to be going so very frequently. A million pictures are the proof to that!
  • Friends are having a great time with family and friends… there is so much of laughter and smiles all around.
  • Friends have such beautiful families and they all seem so much in love…
  • Friends dine out at wonderful restaurants, go to high profile pubs and discotheques. The Places option on the Facebook is always ticking away… And the pictures of the food and the colourful drinks look so very enticing.
  • Friends are achieving big in life… somebody’s got a High Performer certificate from the office, somebody has won a badminton match at the club, somebody met a celebrity at the airport, somebody spotted a tiger at the wild life sanctuary, a mention in the newspaper…
  • Friends are buying so much… almost everybody seems to be having the latest and the best in technology… mobiles, laptops, tabs, SLR cameras, cars…
  • Friends watch all the new movies in the theaters, almost everybody watched the recently concluded IPL matches live at the stadium…

Almost everybody has more than 200 ‘Friends’ on Facebook and you are bombarded with this news every second. Even if you are not on your laptop or computer for long, the smart phone keeps you connected with your Facebook Friends 24×7 and it’s an open secret that you are so very possessive of your smart phone, so much so, that a beep on the phone and you will not waste a second to check it and most of the times, you are anyways busy with it!

 So, all the happening happenings in your Friends’ lives should make you feel happy, proud, motivated…? But all you get is a feeling of inadequacy, being left out, sad and gloomy and even depression!!
Psychologists call this feeling as FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. It begins with a pang of envy. Next comes the anxiety, the self-doubt, the gnawing sense of inadequacy. Finally, those feelings fizzle, leaving you full of bilious irritation!

It’s like, you are suddenly not happy with the way your life is going, you wonder why those good things are not happening in your life and then comes the feeling of being left out or missing something real big in life, as compared to others!

They say that all the wonderful pictures and updates are nothing but impression management! As nobody would post pictures in which they not looking the best, nobody would post dull and drab state of affairs, so it’s all the good and the positive, interesting and new things that get shared with Facebook ‘Friends’. It’s like you choose what to share and not to share with the world!
While there are many who suffer from FOMO, there are many who are not at all affected by this deluge of happy happenings in other people’s lives! For them, it’s just networking and sharing of information, without any comparisons with anybody’s life!!
So, what is Facebook for you?? FOMO or No FOMO!!??

And of course, there are so many good things about Facebook too… See what Susan has to say about it, here!

45 Responses

  1. You raise a very valid point, Shilpa. Psychologically FB is doing this to many people. I would say restrict the time on FB, and stay away from stuff that you know makes you feel depressed. Like you said, those posting the updates or photos are not intending to make you feel small. But, the extreme show off is quite putting off. And, sometimes I really wonder what pics people put up. Women looking like aunties, and older women trying desperately to look hip and hot, and yet all their friends swoon over them. This is a world full of hypocrisy :).

    1. Very true… I believe, one must not compare his/her life with anybody… there are lows in everybody’s life and there are highs in everybody’s life… be satisfied with what you have!! Sounds like gyaan, but that is needed to be sane!
      Talking of pics… Its amazing to see the pics people post… recently saw a real cozy pic of a couple and there were like 100 likes and the comments… my god… Everybody Loved It!! 😀
      And hypocrisy… that abounds on FB!!

  2. No clue where I’d bracket myself into- FOMO or no FOMO! But either ways I am heavily hooked to it! You must have gauged that already I’m sure 😀

  3. I think mostly No FOMO 🙂 but like Deeps above says I’m badly hooked to it..for me it’s like being updated of friend’s life and updating them on mine..also I add only people whom I’m okay to share my life with..not all and sundry under obligation you know!

    so I guess it’s mostly to get entertained and network with friends whom I can’t meet on daily basis…the only way for me to connect to them so closely is FB 🙂 so it rocks!

  4. ME is NO FOMO , I hardly go there, plus I know that if i start to put all that i do people will envy me HA HA HA HAHA 🙂 so why make them FOMO , I am doing all a favour he he he

    Plus I do think as the above comment its not all real , people say something – do something else all the time , some just want to look good in front of others so say what they say ….

    Bikram’s

    1. // I know that if i start to put all that i do people will envy me HA HA HA HAHA 🙂 so why make them FOMO , I am doing all a favour he he he //

      Great answer 22 g. 😀 Loved it.

    2. @ Bikram : LOL…. that’s the spirit and so very considerate of you… not letting anyone suffer from FOMO!! Awesome 😀
      Yes, hypocrisy, thy name is comments on Facebook (Most of the times!) 😀

  5. Shilpa,I agree.FB has actually become a show off platform.
    Those who talk of their achievments and life style,perhaps are a disturbed lot internally.may be, they use FB a source of getting off their frustration.

  6. Good one….yeah out of 7 days in a week, a weekend is posted with partying at a pub. What about the other 6 days? 😀 Bang on Shilpa, liked the post a lot. Eyeopener.

    This is another way to fit-in.

  7. hahaha. that was funny. honestly, i don’t have this FOMO, i get irritated because i don’t understand the point of adding someone to a network only to showcase you achievements. i do have a post on that but not going to put the link here coz we all know those syndromes.

    i have deactivated my facebook account because for me it didn’t make any sense.

  8. No FOMO! I share my good photographs. Ignore bad ones 😀

    Just kidding. Facebook has a lot of spams and useless links. I have unsubscribed from so many people. So they are in my friends’ list, but I don’t receive their updates. 😀

  9. I hate Facebook.. It’s a pain. I was a little more active than my current state a few yrs back, but just lost interest. There is nothing left unsaid..nothing private anymore. Everything is out in the open for good or bad. I don’t begrudge people putting up happy statuses or achievements and sidelining the awkward moments, but 24/7 is just a little too stifling. Besides, my worry is no one actually enjoys the moment focussing instead on the likes and comments.

    Another media I dislike is twitter. Please do a typical Shilpa post on that too 🙂 …with a top ten annoying trends 😉

  10. Me NO FOMO! I have 500+ friends and they will throw stones on me if I keep updating about where I go, what I do etc. I hardly upload any pictures of mine, and that too, I restrict the no. of people to whom it is visible. But yeah…all of us hooked with this thing isn’t it. So I tend to update some stupid things on my wall…You should’ve known by now..if my fb updates are FOMO or non FOMO types 🙂

  11. me no fomo! I just cursory glance through my news feed once..I use FB mostly to upload pics and to participate in two Bangalore based groups.

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