Article 1 - EU must act to halt Facebook addiction

Article accessed @ http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-must-act-to-halt-facebook-addiction-says-mep-2201181.html

In this article Irish MEP Nessa Childers states the need for stronger regulation from the EU regarding the use of Facebook. She believes that using Facebook poses a "clear and present threat to the mental health of millions of European citizens".

The MEP, who has a background in psychology as she trained as a psychotherapist, was elected from the Leinster constituency to the European parliament in June 2009. She also states that, for many, escaping to the "virtual world" of Facebook offers a way of escaping the "banalities" of real life. Many people log into their Facebook accounts once or twice a week she states, but for others it has turned into a compulsion. She concludes that "action is needed at international level from the EU to properly take on the disturbing trend of addiction to sites such as Facebook, which are responsible for all sorts of problematic behaviour."

[End of Article Summary]

F.A.D. or Facebook Addiction Disorder as it is known is something that really fascinates me. I completely agree with the point of view Nessa Childers has on this, that Facebook does indeed pose a risk to people’s mental health. I’ve seen it first hand with some of my own friends. I hear drama stories frequently relating to something that happened on Facebook, or what someone said on their status update. While Nessa seems to be of the opinion that we make virtual connections on Facebook that contribute to an inevitable emptiness within our own internal worlds, on which I agree; it does not state in this article the impact behaviour on Facebook can have on real life & real life relationships.

I know a common report on a Facebook user’s negative feelings is of ‘the grass is greener on the other side’ variety. Many users report feelings & thoughts that suggest they are in some way inadequate themselves, and their lives are not filled up with as much perceived fun that is filling up their newsfeeds. ‘Everyone has a better life than me’ is reportedly what many people think while flicking through their friend’s photos or peering on their walls. These thoughts are not only negative but completely unreasonable. If someone is already prone to negative thinking, then the use of Facebook may well reinforce this negative pattern. But Facebook also causes real tangible problems that transfer & manifest from the offline to the real world. I’ve heard many stories of a Facebook defriending, or indeed a Facebook connection made (that caused a Facebook defriending) and the friction that followed. Real life friction between people that initially had no issues before the activity on Facebook.

With nearly 800 million active users of Facebook worldwide, I do think the time is right to assess how much of a risk Facebook is to susceptible users. Only recently a woman from the United States was charged with arson over a Facebook ‘unfriending’. What began as something trivial regarding a house party, the following chain of events on Facebook ultimately led to a woman setting her ex-friend’s house on fire. While this is obviously an extreme example, it nonetheless illustrates the potential dangers Facebook usage has on the thoughts and behaviour of vulnerable individuals.