How Facebook Affects The Relationships

facebook. How Facebook Affects You and Your Relationships This huge social network is changing the way we interact with each other. Learn more about how the site impacts your relationships. Interesting facts 1 Quick facts Relationship status 31 Users Activity Mobile The five countries with Facebook is the biggest social network in the world with more than 500 million active users. More than 250 million users access Facebook through their mobile devices. These users are twice as active on Facebook 50% of active users log on to Face- book at any given time. the highest percentage of users reporting a relation- ship status are: the United States, South Africa, Iceland, the United King- dom and Canada. These users spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. The average user has 130 friends. than non-mobile users. 2 Overview A Single status percentage US Facebook users (by gender and age, as of 2010) Male Female The average percentage of single Facebook users by country is 39%. User's age 13-17 Single status report Jordan has the largest percentage of Facebook users who report their relationship status as single. 18-25 26-34 Relationships in Finland 35-44 Finland has the greatest percentage of Facebook users reporting that they're in a relationship of any kind ("in a relation- ship," "married," etc.). 45-54 55-65 10 14 (millions of users) 12 Gender in Ghana Ghana has the greatest percentage of single male Facebook users. Women have always made up a greater percentage of Facebook's user base. *Note: These numbers reflect users who report a relationship status as some users do not report one. In Dec. 2010, women outnumbered men on Facebook by 1.28 O......... a rate of 1.28 to 1. It's complicated In a relationship In 2010, Facebook users changed their relation- ship statuses to: Single Engaged Married *....... ....... 37% 24% 31% About 60% of Facebook Other Facebook users set a relationship status on their profile relationship statuses include: In a domestic partnership In a civil union Separated Divorced Widowed 3 How Facebook affects your health and personality According to Claire Suddath, the way people present themselves on Facebook mirrors how they view themselves in real life. How does Face- book impact your personal life? Yes Self-esteem It can help boost your self-esteem Yes Do you use Facebook? Social adjustment and well-being No 31 Do you have friends or relatives using this network? How many friends are How often What types of updates do you post? do you visit your profile? connected with you? No It doesn't affect You are more likely secure about who you are as a person You are more likely to present yourself in an improved light due If in. to feelings of insecurity your life It can increase Occasional It can make Not having as many friends as others may make you feel self-conscious, but interactions may be more genuine May increase your self-esteem due to more social support received, but interactions may be superficial your self- esteem profile viewing you over-aware of yourself, causing stress and anxiety has been because you avoid others" news, drama proven to enhance self- esteem This guide was based on articles written by Amy L. Gonzales, Jeffrey Hancock, Maria Kalpidou, Dan Costin and Jessica Morris. According to Hancock, "when we post anything onto a social network, we are able to filter out anything that we may perceive as bad or unflattering about ourselves." Facebook allows you to show a positive version of yourself and therefore boost your self-esteem and well-being, contributing to happiness. Depending on how often you use Facebook, you can cause the following negative effects on your personal life: Updates Contacts Etiquette Mood and Status Worries about the proper type of etiquette Stress coming from deleting Pressure to be humorous Stress of missing important information unwanted contacts and entertaining Stress resulting from status update comments Stress of dealing with offended friends finding out your important news on Facebook first Stress if a significant other doesn't want to post/confirm his/her relationship status Worries about recon- necting with people you'd like to avoid On relationships and jealousy It is proven that Facebook can have a direct impact on you. But how does it affect your relationships? It can help you find the perfect partner and even make your relationship status official to the world. But it can also reveal a private part of your life: (E Public record Overanalyzing Spending too much time on Facebook can make you acutely aware of your love interest's posts. Overanalyz- ing what every post means to your relationship can lead to feelings of insecurity. s nat life on Facebook, but that to chronicle your results in a public record of every relationship you've had, which your current partner may not appreciate. By changing your relation- ship status on Facebook, you make it official. But what if your partner doesn't recip- rocate, and stays "single?" Plus, if and when that rela- tionship ends, it could lead to public heartbreak. Everything's public Breakups are painful, espe- cially when you're reminded about how great your ex's Life has become. Curiosity can get the best of all of us, resulting in hours spent checking out his/her Face- book profile post breakup. Constant reminders People's comments Watch what other people say and post about you on Facebook. Certain com- ments may share too much informa- tion and make your partner jealous. How to deal with these problems There is nothing quite as heartbreaking as public relationship issues. If these are because of Facebook, here are a few solutions: Communication is key. Chat with your partner to find out if the problem is because of something on Facebook. If something on your profile is making your partner jealous, YLI Consider making some changes to Facebook may cause insecuri- ties, so spend plenty of time growing the relationship on a daily basis. make him/her more comfortable. If an ex's posts are too much for you to handle, hide him/her from your feed and Be mindful of what's posted on Facebook and delete anything that may come back to haunt you later. Edit your privacy settings so past loves aren't allowed to see certain information or comment decide to never check out on your profile. his/her profile again. Sources: Information provided by: Sites: Facebook.com | Insidefacebook.com | Guystuffcounseling.com | Mashable.com CNN Tech | Dailymail.co.uk ONLINE DATING UNIVERSITY Articles: Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking by Amy L. Gonzales, Jeffrey T. Hancock, Junghyun Kim, Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee, Maria Kalpidou, Dan Costin and Jessica Morris. http://www.onlinedating.org