Happy Facebook Status Updates Make Others Feel Sad

TIME:

Have other people's blithe Facebook updates ever made you feel like a total loser? Or have you ever felt that your best friend's life is perfectly easy and joyful, while yours is nothing but struggle and anxiety? You're not alone.

Everybody has these experiences, finds an illuminating new study from Stanford University.

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[Widespread Panic]

09:21 PM on 02/06/2011

I really hate the posts that try to make everyone else feel jealous of all the good things happening in their lives. I always wonder if they are trying to convince me or themselves?

[gemzenith]

09:28 PM on 01/28/2011

I posted this on my facebook.

[Bruisersmom]

05:09 PM on 01/28/2011

I figure the Facebook updates are the internet versions of the alumni newsletter updates from my high school. People only write about the trip the took, the cute thing their child did, or something else good or funny, and wisely keep the bad stuff off of Facebook. So, the happy updates don't make me feel bad. I'll get the invite for a drink after work to hear about the bad stuff ( wisely not posted on Facebook) from the same person who posted the cute snowbaby pictures on Facebook ealier that morning.

[katiek2o]

12:27 PM on 01/28/2011

and people that post are lying..ture happiness isn't showing off/ posting it for the world to see. facebook is crap

[PaddockGirl]

12:34 PM on 01/28/2011

This is spot on. FB gives many people a chance to put forth a completely different reality to their life as it truly is. People who are taking FB seriously need to get a life!

[katiek2o]

12:41 PM on 01/28/2011

yess! taking anything tooo seriously is not fun.. and everyone has moments of insecurity/ some types do it by showing off first/ and then others self-depreciate like me hah.id rather surprise peeps. i think true happiness is infectious/ spreads like a disease/ and if you are making other people unhappy you are clearly not happy

[Sunflo]

10:15 AM on 01/28/2011

The faux mysterious, bait-type updates are the ones that get on my nerves.

[RhiannonRings]

11:26 AM on 01/28/2011

I know what you mean. I have a friend that leaves cryptic updates, I just ignore them now.

[katiek2o]

12:33 PM on 01/28/2011

its simple.. if you're sad to begin with/ happy updates is going to make you sadder.. and if youre happy/ other updates are going to make you happier.. input=output

[ontariogirl]

10:02 AM on 01/28/2011

Most "friends" on facebook have likely never even met one another. To let someones status on Facebook send you over the edge just makes me laugh. Try going and seeing them in person to see what is happening in their life.

[ras121s]

10:14 AM on 01/28/2011

I've met every single person I am "friends" with on FB. And while I totally agree with you about seeing those people in person, for many of them that is just not a possiblity as they live in other states - which is precisely why I am on FB and friends with those real-life friends on FB - to keep up with them on a regular basis since I can't just go see them any day of the week.

[RhiannonRings]

11:26 AM on 01/28/2011

Hear here!

[Amber Troska]

09:48 AM on 01/28/2011

Reverse Schadenfreude? Or is that just sour grapes? Either way, if you can't be happy for someone when they're happy, you're not really friends and being Facebook friends doesn't really count anyway.

[jessivehadit]

04:57 AM on 01/28/2011

I think the point of this is that your happy facebook status updates make other people sad....so, um, please limit your posts to horrible depressing thoughts...Your misery and inner darkness will help usher some joy into the lives of others in this stupid backwards world.

[Annie Mouse]

03:34 AM on 01/28/2011

This is so foreign to me. Bored? Unhappy? Sad? DO something different. Stop comparing yourself to other people. So many people write their own miserable stories and then act surprised by the ending.

[carnitine]

02:18 AM on 01/28/2011

Did a psychologist write this? Psychology is a fraud

[StephenJK]

02:30 AM on 01/28/2011

...so is facebook.

[ontariogirl]

09:58 AM on 01/28/2011

So true.

[kburlz]

12:50 AM on 01/28/2011

Negative updates annoy me more than positive ones. I'm about to unfriend a co worker because she always puts up these Debbie Downer updates. A lot of the time the overly postive posters seem like they are trying to convince themselves how great things are.

[StephenJK]

02:31 AM on 01/28/2011

Last sentence is spot on.

[veritas88]

02:17 PM on 01/28/2011

I defriended a friend from high school who was ALWAYS writing these emo/woe-is-me attention seeking status updates. One or two is fine, then I'll ask how she's doing etc but it became so constant and irritating.

[thebigbike]

11:42 PM on 01/27/2011

STFAFF If others' announcements of good fortune and happiness make you unhappyandresentfulanddepressed..... STAY THE F___ AWAY FROM FACEBOOK!

[WoodsideCraig]

11:40 PM on 01/27/2011

I rushed to the comment section to be sure and make a point about drawing conclusions from a study that used only college freshmen, but alas, I am no more insightful or clever than anyone else on this thread.

Ah to be young and stupid, totally lack any wisdom and be absolutely sure I've got it all handled. Those were the days.

[wolfiegirl]

09:28 PM on 01/27/2011

Next time do a study on fb users over 30 instead of college freshmen, who of course are only going to post about the "awesome party" or the "awesome new boyfriend" and photos of their spring break trip. Or better yet, a cross sampling of the population.

[gevan]

09:01 PM on 01/27/2011

Reminds me of the fable of the man who cursed that he had no shoes until he met the man who had no feet.

[huffpostreader10000]

03:09 AM on 01/31/2011

and which is better?

[gevan]

05:08 AM on 01/31/2011

I'd leave that to your imagination.