The Anxiety of the Social Media World

Facebook can take a toll on your health. A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Queensland's School of Psychology in Australia shows that for some users who are not earning responses from posts, they may feel a smaller sense of purpose or belonging in the world.

Lead study author Dr. Stephanie Tobin from the university completed two experiments on 'lurking' or passive Facebook participation and on ostracism.

For the first experiment, researchers asked half of the frequent Facebook users to post updates while the other 'lurkers' were just asked to view their friend's status updates.

The second experiment required that participants post and comment on others status updates on Facebook by using accounts set up by the researchers. Half of the accounts were modulated so that they could not receive feedback at all. At the end of the experiment, half of the participants received feedback while the other half didn't.

Findings showed that both 'lurkers' and 'ostracized participants' from each study experienced low levels of social belonging. They also felt less significant to others, overall.

"The studies allowed us to examine how the sense of belonging depends on how much people are sharing on Facebook, the experiences they are having on the site and whether they are being ignored or validated by others," said Tobin. "The results clearly identified that active participation is necessary to decrease feelings of social rejection."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Social Influence.