Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter feed anxiety and make people feel inadequate, a study has found.
A young woman looks at the Twitter website on a laptop.
Photo: David J. Green - lifestyle themes / Alamy
Laura Donnelly
By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent
9:00AM BST 08 Jul 2012
Comments17 Comments
A poll of those using the technology found more than half of those surveyed said the sites had changed their behaviour - and half of those said their lives had been altered for the worse.
Most commonly, those who suffered a negative impact from social media said their confidence fell after comparing their own achievements to those of friends online.
Two-thirds said they found it hard to relax completely or to sleep after spending time on the sites.
And one quarter of those polled said they had been left facing difficulties in their relationships or workplace after becoming confrontational online.
In total, 298 people were polled by Salford Business School at the University of Salford, for the charity Anxiety UK.
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Of those, 53 per cent said the launch of social networking sites had changed their behaviour - and of those, 51 per cent said the impact had been negative.
The research also demonstrated the addictive powers of internet, with 55 per cent of people saying they felt "worried or uncomfortable" when they could not access their Facebook or email accounts.
More than 60 per cent of people said they felt compelled to turn off electronic gadgets in order to have a break, with one in three of those surveyed saying they switched the devices off several times each day.
The findings about behaviour changes after using social networking sites came from smaller in-depth research which was then carried out by Anxiety UK.
Nicky Lidbetter, the charity's chief executive said: "If you are predisposed to anxiety it seems that the pressures from technology act as a tipping point, making people feel more insecure and more overwhelmed."
She said the charity was surprised by the high proportion of people who found that the only way to ensure a break from the demands of their devices was to switch them off, as they were not capable of simply ignoring their mobile phones, BlackBerry devices and computers.
Dr Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist said many people suffered increased anxiety because they failed to take charge of the demands being placed on them.
She said: "I think one of the key things is that people have begun to behave as though technology is in control of them, instead of the other way round. We can switch the gadgets off but a lot of us have forgotten how to".
Last year, a global study found that turning off mobile phones, avoiding the internet and tuning out of the television and radio can leave people suffering from symptoms similar to those seen in drug addicts trying to go "cold turkey".
Scientists asked volunteers from 12 universities around the world to stay away from computers, mobile phones, iPods, television and radio for 24 hours.
They found that the participants began to develop symptoms typically seen in smokers attempting to give up. The majority of those who enrolled in the study failed to last the full 24 hours without demanding their gadgets back. _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà
Loanka
: 06.04.2006 : 3745 : Paris
: , 11 2012, 15:11:39 : Re: Ïîêëîííèêàì Ôýéñáóêà
Zabougornov ():
Âû âñå òàì ïîãèáíèòå íà Ôýéñáóêå, ïîíèçèòå ñâîþ ñàìîîöåíêó è ñòàíåòå íåðâíûìè è èíòåðíåò-çàâèñèìûìè! È òóò òî âàñ ò¸ïëåíüêèõ âîçüì¸ò çà æàáðû ÖÐÓ...
Òàê, ïðåçèäåíò IBS Group è ÷ëåí ðàáî÷åé ãðóïïû ïî ôîðìèðîâàíèþ â Ðîññèè "Îòêðûòîãî ïðàâèòåëüñòâà" Àíàòîëèé Êàðà÷èíñêèé íà ñâîåé çàêðûòîé ñòðàíèöå â Facebook ãîâîðèë îá ýòîì äîâîëüíî ðåçêî:
—  ïîñëåäíåå âðåìÿ íåêîòîðîå êîëè÷åñòâî ðîññèéñêèõ ïðîãðàììèñòîâ ïîëó÷èëè ïðèãëàøåíèå íà ñîáåñåäîâàíèå â Facebook ñ òîâàðèùåì Öóêåðáåðãîì. Òå, êòî ñõîäèë, ðàññêàçàëè, ÷òî èì ïðåäëîæèëè ðàáîòó è íåìåäëåííóþ ýâàêóàöèþ â Àìåðèêó. Ïîñëåäíèé ðàç òàêóþ îòêðîâåííóþ îïåðàöèþ ïî ìàññîâîìó âûâîçó íàøèõ ïðîãðàììèñòîâ ïðåäïðèíÿë Microsoft â 1998 ãîäó. Íî îíè íå äåëàëè ýòî òàê ïóáëè÷íî, è óæ òî÷íî Ãåéòñ íå ïûòàëñÿ âñòðåòèòüñÿ ñ Åëüöèíûì èëè Ïðèìàêîâûì. …
— Ìíå êàæåòñÿ, ïîìîùíèêàì Ìåäâåäåâà ñòîèò ãëóáæå ðàçîáðàòüñÿ â ýòîì âîïðîñå è åùå ðàç ïîäóìàòü, ïðàâèëüíûå ëè ñèãíàëû ìû ïîäàåì ðûíêó è îáùåñòâó. "Ñêîëêîâî" çàäóìûâàëîñü êàê ïðîåêò, êîòîðûé äîëæåí ïðèâëå÷ü â Ðîññèþ ìîçãè. Íî íàñêîëüêî ÿ çíàþ, ëþäè, êîòîðûå íóæíû Öóêåðáåðãó, âðÿä ëè ñìîãóò ðàáîòàòü ãäå-ëèáî, êðîìå åãî îôèñà.Ïåðåìàíèòü ðîññèéñêèõ ñïåöèàëèñòîâ Öóêåðáåðã, êîíå÷íî, ñìîæåò. Íî ýòî åìó íàâåðíÿêà îáîéäåòñÿ äîðîæå, ÷åì îí ðàññ÷èòûâàåò, óáåæäåí ýêñïåðò ôîíäà "Ôèíàì Ãëîáàë" Ëåîíèä Äåëèöûí.
"Ñìîæåò ëè Öóêåðáåðã çàïðàâèòüñÿ â Ðîññèè ïðîãðàììèñòàìè, èññëåäîâàòåëÿìè, ìåíåäæåðàìè – âîïðîñ ñëîæíûé, ïîñêîëüêó â Ðîññèè èíòåðíåò-èíäóñòðèÿ â çíà÷èòåëüíîé ñòåïåíè ñêîíöåíòðèðîâàíà â ñòîëèöàõ, â ãîðîäàõ-ìèëëèîííèêàõ, ãäå çàðïëàòû íå òàê óæ íèçêè, òàê ÷òî ñåé÷àñ ðîññèéñêèõ ðàçðàáîò÷èêîâ íåëüçÿ íàçâàòü äåøåâîé ðàáî÷åé ñèëîé", — îòìåòèë îí.
Ìàðê Öóêåðáåðã ïîñåùàåò Ðîññèþ â ðàìêàõ Facebook World Hack Tour. Êðîìå Ìîñêâû â åãî ïëàíàõ ïîåçäêè â Áåðëèí, Áàðñåëîíó, Äæàêàðòó, Áóýíîñ-Àéðåñ, Ñàí-Ïàóëó è åùå íåñêîëüêî ãîðîäîâ.  êàæäîì èç íèõ ïðîâîäÿòñÿ âîñüìè÷àñîâûå ñîðåâíîâàíèÿ ïî ïðîãðàììèðîâàíèþ. Ïîáåäèòåëè ïîëó÷àþò âîçìîæíîñòü ïîñåòèòü Ñàí-Ôðàíöèñêî èëè ïðèãëàøåíèå â êîìàíäó Facebook.
Íó èíòåðåñ Öóêåðáåðãà ê âñòðå÷å ñ Ìåäâåäåâûì ïîíÿòåí: Ïèàð è ïð. Íî êàêîâ èíòåðåñ Ìåäâåäåâà? Ñòðàííî âñ¸ ýòî.... Íó ïðèåçæàåò íåêèé ìèëëèàðäåð â Ðîññèþ, íó è ÷òî? Îí ÷òî, ñîáèðàåòñÿ ñîçäàòü ïðîåêò íàöèîíàëüíîãî ìàøòàáà â Ðîññèè? Çà÷åì Ìåäâåäåâó ñ íèì âñòðå÷àòüñÿ? _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà
Áóäåì íàäåÿòñÿ ÷òî Ìåäâåäåâ îêàæåòñÿ äîñòàòî÷íî óì¸í ÷òîáû îðãàíèçîâàòü âçàèìîâûãîäíîå ñîòðóäíè÷åñòâî. _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà
4th October 2012 by Emil Protalinski
Facebook Holds Its Fourth f8 Developer Conference
Yesterday I spotted a video submitted to Hacker News by the Polish startup Killswitch.me that clearly showed sending a link in a Facebook private message increases the Like counter on the link’s originating third-party website. This would suggest Facebook is scanning your private messages for shared links to Web pages with Like buttons, so it can increase the number of corresponding Likes for those pages. Facebook confirmed this information with me today, though it did emphasize this only happens for third-party websites with Facebook plugins, not Facebook Pages.
The original video included NSFW imagery and was promptly taken down by YouTube (for reference, it’s still up on Vimeo). In addition to the potential privacy problems of performing such scans, the short clip also showed a curious oddity: when Facebook detects a link to a “Likeable” page, it increases the counter by two Likes.
Facebook sent me the following statement about this issue today:
We did recently find a bug with our social plugins where at times the count for the Share or Like goes up by two, and we are working on fix to solve the issue now. To be clear, this only affects social plugins off of Facebook and is not related to Facebook Page likes. This bug does not impact the user experience with messages or what appears on their timelines.
I had to clarify something though. Was the bug in question the fact that the counter goes up by two, or the fact that the counter goes up in the first place, when links are shared privately? The Facebook spokesperson told me that it was indeed the fact that it went up by two. In other words, Facebook is monitoring your private messages for links that have Like buttons and should be increased.
This is news to me. Yet this was clearly the case before as on the Like button Web page over on Facebook Developers, the social networking giant says the number shown on a Like button is the sum of:
The number of likes of this URL.
The number of shares of this URL (this includes copy/pasting a link back to Facebook).
The number of likes and comments on stories on Facebook about this URL.
The number of inbox messages containing this URL as an attachment.
I’ve known for a while that the Like button isn’t a counter of just Likes: it also includes Shares as well as comments on Liked and Shared items on the social network. Private messages, however, are something completely different, and they have privacy questions attached to them.
The most important one: if I use Facebook to privately share a link (especially if it’s to something controversial), and the company increases the Like counter, will the Like button on that site show my name to my Facebook friends who also visit that site? I don’t expect anything to show up on my Timeline, but maybe on the site itself, since Facebook already does this for things I actively hit the Like button for.
Thankfully, this isn’t the case. When I asked for clarification, Facebook sent along this statement:
Absolutely no private information has been exposed and Facebook is not automatically Liking any Facebook Pages on a user’s behalf.
Many websites that use Facebook’s ‘Like’, ‘Recommend’, or ‘Share’ buttons also carry a counter next to them. This counter reflects the number of times people have clicked those buttons and also the number of times people have shared that page’s link on Facebook. When the count is increased via shares over private messages, no user information is exchanged, and privacy settings of content are unaffected. Links shared through messages do not affect the Like count on Facebook Pages.
Well, there’s another privacy disaster avoided. Facebook seems to have to deal with this type of thing every week.
Update at 4:55PM EST: Facebook got in touch again to further explain the situation. Here’s what’s happening: “Our systems parse the URL being shared in order to render the appropriate preview, and to also ensure that the message is not spam.”
See also: Facebook confirms it shut down The Cool Hunter’s Facebook Page over copyright infringement
Update on October 5: Facebook called to tell me the bug has been fixed. The counter now only goes up by one Like instead of two. _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà
Ïî ñëîâàì àâòîðîâ èññëåäîâàíèÿ, ñîöèàëüíûå ìåõàíèçìû çàùèòû â Facebook è èíûõ ñîöñåòÿõ ñóùåñòâóþò, íî îíè íåäîñòàòî÷íî èíòåëëåêòóàëüíû è ïîêà íå ìîãóò îòëè÷èòü íàñòîÿùåãî ïîëüçîâàòåëÿ îò áîòà, äàæå åñëè ïîñëåäíèé äåéñòâóåò ïîëíîñòüþ íà àâòîìàòå è áåç ó÷àñòèÿ æèâîãî ÷åëîâåêà.
Êðîìå òîãî, ó÷åíûå ïðåäóïðåæäàþò, ÷òî â áóäóùåì íà áàçå ýòîé èëè åé ïîäîáíûõ ìåòîäèê ìîãóò áûòü ðåàëèçîâàíû íàñòîÿùèå êàìïàíèè ïî êðàæå äàííûõ ó äåñÿòêîâ èëè äàæå ñîòåí òûñÿ÷ ëþäåé. _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà