Facebook and Depression

When I started our Flash Assignment about Facebook and depression, I missed part of the explanation of the assignment. Because of this I just read, "Write a short research essay about Facebook and Depression". I was not sure what Dr. Ballenger's definition of "short" was, so I figured that being on the longer side was better than the shorter. So I set off to do my own research, since I did not see the links for the two articles. Because I did my own research and wrote much longer than the required amount, I was able to learn more about the topic. Not only was I informed about Facebook and depression, but also how social networking sites can cause problems in relationships, how many feel their lives are being wasted away on these sites, and which type of people are more likely to post about themselves. Even though many feel that their life is being wasted while on these sites, members continue to use them because they believe it will improve their mood. But the ironic part is that, most of the time, it does not help to heighten their mood.
Although I heard a little about this subject, prior to this assignment, I had never truly looked into the facts and research done on it. Although it is very aparent to me now, it is crazy to think that one website can cause so many emotional and physical problems for its users. And how members can rely so heavily on social networking, that it can lead to these major problems that were listed above. Although I believe that social sites have helped to improve our society, some users need to talk a step back from them and look at their lives as a whole.