Facebook can cause frustration: Study

Social networking site Facebook can make you feel envious of your “successful” friends, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction, a new German study has found.

Researchers led by Dr Hanna Krasnova of the Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin surveyed Facebook members regarding their feelings after using the platform.

More than one-third of respondents reported predominantly negative feelings, such as frustration. The researchers identified that envying their “Facebook friends” is the major reason for this result.

Krasnova, explained that, “Although respondents were reluctant to admit feeling envious while on Facebook, they often presumed that envy can be the cause behind the frustration of ‘others’ on this platform – a clear indication that envy is a salient phenomenon in the Facebook context”.

“Indeed, access to copious positive news and the profiles of seemingly successful ‘friends’ fosters social comparison that can readily provoke envy. By and large, on-line social networks allow users unprecedented access to information on relevant others — insights that would be much more difficult to obtain offline,” Krasnova said in a statement.

Those who do not engage in any active, interpersonal communications on social networks and primarily utilise them as sources of information, eg reading friends’ postings, checking news feeds, or browsing through photos, are particularly subject to these painful experiences.

The study also found that about one-fifth of all recent on-line/offline events that had provoked envy among the respondents took place within a Facebook context. This reveals a colossal role of this platform in users’ emotional life.

Paradoxically, envy can frequently lead to users embellishing their Facebook profiles, which, in turn, provokes envy among other users, a phenomenon that the researchers have termed “envy spiral”.

The researchers were also able to establish a negative link between the envy that arises while on Facebook and users’ general life satisfaction. Indeed, passive use of Facebook heightens invidious emotions that, in turn, adversely affect users’ satisfaction with their lives.

“Considering the fact that Facebook use is a worldwide phenomenon and envy is a universal feeling, a lot of people are subject to these painful consequences,” study co-author Helena Wenninger of the TU-Darmstadt said.

Related articles

• How Facebook and Twitter can boost your ego and make you more impulsive in just five minutes (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

How Facebook and Twitter can boost your ego and make you more impulsive in just five minutes

• Policy-makers need to consider the impacts, warn researchers
• Inability to concentrate found to be one of the effects
• Browsing social networks for just five minutes can cause loss of control

Facebook and other social network sites can cause users to lose control and may lead to violence, obesity and debt.

Browsing for just five minutes on social networks can boost user’s self-belief so much that they become more impulsive.

Effects can include an increase in binge-eating, loss of concentration and lack of application, a study showed.

 

Browsing Facebook for just five minutes can increase impulsive behaviour, the study found.

Researchers are also concerned that the loss of control prompted by using Facebook could lead to social problems such as aggression and violence.

‘Given that self-control is important for maintaining social order and personal well-being, this subtle effect could have widespread impact,’ the study from the US warned.

‘This is particularly true for adolescents and young adults who are the heaviest users of social networks and have grown up using social networks as a normal part of their daily lives.’

Dr Andrew Stephen, of the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr Keith Wilcox of Columbia University in New York, carried out the study with more than 1,000 Facebook users and said it was the first time it has been demonstrated that facebook and other social networking sites lead to loss of control.

They urged policy-makers to investigate social network use to better understand how people behave after using Facebook and other sites.

‘We have demonstrated that using today’s most popular social network, Facebook, may have a detrimental effect on people’s self-control,’ said Dr Stephen.

Research identified an increase in binge-eating as one of the effects of using social network sites.

The researchers found that the key to behavioral changes after using social networking sites is the way they boost a user’s feeling of self-worth.

For people who send and receive posts from a number of friends with whom they have ‘strong ties’ even using a site for a short period of time was observed to increase self-esteem.

This is thought to happen because the social conventions that prevent boasting in face to face meetings are weakened when posting online, the researchers argued.

Users are also likely to focus on presenting positive images of themselves which are reinforced by supportive responses.

Having had their self-esteem boosted, the study showed, the self-control of users was weakened and resulted in different types of behaviour.

Volunteers taking part in one test were instructed to either spend a few minutes browsing social network sites or to look through CNN.com and TMZ.com.

Participants were then asked to choose between a healthy snack or a chocolate chip cookie and it was found that those using social network sites were more likely to opt for the unhealthy option.

‘Social network use enhanced self-esteem, making them more likely to make an unhealthy food choice compared to those who did not browse Facebook,’ the academics reported in a paper – Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social Networks, Self-Esteem, and Self-Control – published online in the Journal of Consumer Research.

A similar test in which volunteers were asked to solve anagrams after going online showed that the Facebook users were more likely to lose concentration and give up on the puzzles.

Researchers also asked volunteers a series of questions to establish their Body Mass Index (BMI), how many credit cards they had and what their levels of debt were.

 ‘The results suggest that greater social network use is associated with a higher body-mass index, increased binge eating, a lower credit score, and higher levels of credit-card debt for individuals with strong ties to their social network,’ the researchers found.

‘This research advances our knowledge of social networks by demonstrating that social networks can have significant effects on consumer judgment and decision-making, even in tasks that are unrelated to social network use or more general social behavior.’

They added: ‘Our research demonstrates that social network use may also have a detrimental effect on well-being by leading certain people to exhibit lower self-control.

‘It would be worthwhile for researchers and policy makers to further explore social network use in order to better understand which consumers may be particularly vulnerable to suffering negative psychological or social consequences.’

Iran develops new software to control social networking

Iran’s police chief says the Islamic Republic is developing new software to control social net­working sites.

Gen. Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam was quoted in Irani­an newspapers Saturday as say­ing the new software will pre­vent Iranians from being ex­posed to malicious content on­line while allowing users to enjoy the benefits of the Inter­net. He did not say when the software would be introduced.

Moghadam also did not spe­cify which social networking sites would be affected, but both Facebook and Twitter are popu­lar in Iran.

Iranians currently have access to most of the Internet, although authorities block some sites affiliated with the opposition, as well as those that are seen as promoting dissent or considered morally corrupt.

Eventually, Teheran is planning to create a national computer network to replace the Internet. All government bodies will use this network.

Twitter: the terrorists’ new favorite social network?

Image from laurabwriter.blogspot.com

Are Islamic terrorists still relying on sleeper cells and encrypted correspondence to communicate calls for jihad among other violent extremists? Maybe, but they’re making a splash on Twitter, too.

“On Twitter, they get more reach to expand their propaganda,” London-based researcher Murad Batal al Shishani tells McClatchy this week. Shishani says that while the Internet has allowed terrorists an ever expanding way of communicating with like-minded individuals since the digital age reached its peak, extremists have recently taken an especially fond liking to Twitter, where sending out a short, 140-character message can mobilize masses internationally and at a moment’s notice.

In theory, at least.

Shishani says in his research that while Twitter is indeed thought to be an emerging mode of communication among Islamic extremists and foreign terrorist groups, the outlet is acting more like a recruiting tool or newswire than an actual conduit for calls to action.

“They’re focusing on current events – Syria, or supporting a revolution here or there – but they are not using it for operational activity or to communicate among themselves,” the researcher adds. Instead, he insists, a growing number of Internet-inclined terrorists are taking to Twitter so that they can aim for new recruits using one of the fastest growing modes of communication.

“They can reach the ‘swing people,’ and try to attract more sympathizers,” he explains.

In an article published by the New York Times late last year, reporter Jeffrey Gettleman drew attention to a trend of terrorists favoring Twitter as a way of communicating over the Web, claiming, “terrorism experts say that Twitter terrorism is part of an emerging trend.”

Twitter, wrote Gettleman, was usurping previously popular social networking sites among audiences of all sorts, and that was evident within al-Qaeda and other organizations as well. In that instance, though, Gettleman wrote that one particular microblog account — one tied to the press office of Somalia’s Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahedeen — might be shut down by US authorities.

“American officials say they may have the legal authority to demand that Twitter close the Shabab’s account, @HSMPress, which had more than 4,600 followers as of Monday night,” they Times wrote last year. At the time, Trevor Timm of the Electronic Frontier Foundation mocked Congress’ likely call for a removal of the account in question, saying on his own Twitter account, “How fast does Joe Lieberman release a statement today saying we should censor the Net in the name of national security? I bet before noon.”

Now nearly a year since the @HSMPress account made headlines, McClathcy says that terrorist-tied Twitter accounts are indeed still in existence, but don’t seem to be doing anything that unexpected.

“On the feeds I read, they’re not tweeting anything outlandish,” the Center for Strategic Studies’ Will McCants tells McClatchy. “Maybe they blew up a tank or killed two dudes.”

Even after Congress allegedly considered shutting down the @HSMPress account, McCants says doing as much today would do little to garner America another victory in its war on terror. Given the ever growing number of accounts across the world, it might also be impossible.

“There’s not a lot to be gained from taking it down,” McCants says. “The fear is: ‘Oh my God, they’re on Twitter, how far could their propaganda reach?’ Once you calm down, you see that the only people who get excited about it are geeky intel analysts and fans they already have.”

8 Things Not to Do in Your First 3 Months on the Job

After on boarding a new organization it is very important for professionals to keep in mind that he/she should give his/her level best in order to create a good impression at their new job. Remember that for the first ninety days of your joining, everyone has an eye on you to find out that whether you are a good hire or not, suggests Stacey Hawley, Principal at Credo, a career services company, reports Ritika Trikha on Career Bliss.

Therefore, one should be very careful after on boarding a new organization and avoid spoiling their trustworthiness. Listed below are eight things to avoid doing after joining the organization suggested by seasoned experts.

1. Never say ‘That’s not my Job’ : Most jobs in today’s corporate world requires to change the job duties of professionals in no time, therefore, you should be flexible in order to take up any work,  if you deny to take up new duties that shows you are not a team player , according to  Yung Trang, President of TechBargains.com. Yung Trang suggests professionals to ready to extend support whenever you are needed as you will be always remembered by your company superiors for this good quality of yours, no matter what you do later.

2. Never behave as if you know everything: It is always advisable for you to be an observer after jo ining the organization, no matter how qualified and skillful you are, you should carefully see how things work in that organization, moreover, you should observe the work culture and the employees working in the organization instead of giving your own suggestions, so that they can do things differently, claims Stacy Pursell, executive search consultant of the Pursell Group.

3. Don’t be Unsocial: You should definitely know that being unsocial will keep you from integrating into the company’s family. Building a good rapport with the people in the organization will prove to be one advantage for you in the long run, therefore, never say no to lunch invitations or company functions. According to Rachel Dotson, Communications Manager at Zip Recruiter, you should not hesitate to mix well with the people in the organization, which will enable you to bridge the gap between you and them, as people are less likely to respond to their new co- workers.

4. Do not take vacations immediately after joining: If you take up a vacation immediately after join ing the organization, it will be difficult for you to settle down there. Taking vacations immediately won’t prove to be a wise decision as by this you are sure to annoy your employers. Yung Trang says that if you have already planned your vacation before joining the organization, you should let your employer know about that beforehand as a condition of accepting the job offer.

5. Do not get involved in surfing the social networking sites: Even if you don’t have much wor k immediately after joining the organization, never, ever think of spending your time surfing the social networking sites as this is sure to annoy your employers. No employer will tolerate that they are paying an employee for time wasting and surfing the social networking sites, suggests Hunter Valmont, President of Hunter Valmont PR.

6. Never get indulged with office Gossip: Many of your co – workers would like you to get invo lved in office gossips, and in order to be liked by them you may commit the mistake of getting involved with the office gossips and politics which may lead to your departure from the office soon, says Roberta Matuson, president of Human Resource Solutions

7. Don’t lie about a mistake done by you: Remember that mistakes can be committed by anyone, e specially if you are a new comer it is acceptable by your employers that you can commit errors, however, you should not lie to your employers if you have committed any mistake as this will give them a reason to mistrust you, according to President and CEO of LaSalle Network Tom Gimbel.

8. Avoid saying ‘I’ instead of ‘We’: Employers like professionals with team spirit, therefore, as a new employee you should never decline to demonstrate your team spirit to them. So use ‘We’ instead of ‘I’ in every possible sentence. Moreover, you are required to work in a team environment in the organization. So even if most of the contributions regarding the productivity of the business are done by you, never in any conversation with your company superiors say that “I did this”, says Samantha Goldberg, celebrity event designer-spokesperson, television personality and experienced manager/trainer.

Related articles

• 10 Salary Negotiating Mistakes to Avoid (money.usnews.com)
• Job Hunting Requires a License Too (termlifeinsurance.org)

Eight Hot Social Networks of Future

 

Facebook was the first one to set a benchmark in social networking by showing the world how a simple idea from three Harvard dropouts could change the way the people interact, meet, do business and even sleep. Sites like Pinterest and Foursquare also gained millions of customers following the same path with a slight change of social principles.

Some of the people still think Facebook is the last word in social networking. But check out these budding networks. Even though many of them apply the same social principles- incorporating location based services and binding the people on taste graphs- they help people to meet and socialize, not in digital life, but in real.

In the numerous new social networks, there are a few which stand out on the functionality and beauty by which they attract millions. Mashable had made a list of the best among them, which could be the social networks of the future.

Highlight

Highlight is now the hot topic in social world. The geo location based social app surfaces information about the people who is near you in real time. It runs GPS, 24/ 7 in the background to keep you always connected. With the app, you can simply know everything about the highlight users who are sitting in a football field, if you find some interesting profiles which meet your tastes, you can send them a direct message or “highlight” them so that they will be notified about the same. The privacy features also allows you to be invisible from the rest of users by simply “pausing.”  

Forecast

Here is a service which is definitely for the future. Since all the networks around you keeps a log of your past and present, forecast asks what you plan to do in the future. The developers hope that Forecasting your acting class or yoga section tomorrow night will encourage and inspire other friends to join the fun. Simply, it’s a fun and simple way for friends to share where they’re going.

Fancy

Fancy lets you “fancy” anything in the world. It then files your “fancy’d” products into a sorted digital wish list. The eye catching site is very similar to Pinterest except the fact that you can actually buy the products on Fancy.

Localmind

Localmind is for the local, spontaneous social users. It gathers all the information from the nearby users about events, restaurant specials, offers and attractions happening now. It gathers the location specific information from Facebook and foursquare check-ins. It will also award you with points for providing fruitful information and location advice to others.

Glancee

Glancee helps users to make meaningful connections to new people. It explores the profiles of the people around you to discover the hidden connections including common friends, mutual interests and notify you so that you can meet up and create beautiful connections. It quietly works in the background saving all the information in the app diary regarding your encounters and events.

Sonar

Sonar works in coordination with your Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts. Once after surveying the accounts, Sonar determines your most appropriate connections and it will help you to learn more about the people in vicinity and assist you in activities including networking and online dating.

Path

Path is a smart online journal which helps you share life with your dear ones. You can post everything from your photos, the music you listen to, where you are, who you are with and when you wake and sleep. You can also post these path updates to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Gogoboat

Gogoboat is like the travel guide Pinterest. You can get tips from the travelers, see where your friends have travelled, and share your own travel stories and photos to help others.