Most Facebook users have low self-esteem: Study

Although I have a facebook account I rarely use it anymore. Even the alerts come to my blackberry, all I do is hit delete. I gave your discussion some thoughts my friend and I find truths to this as I can see from the constant daily alerts how so many of my so called friends update hour after hour about their silly nothings and can't help but wonder what they are thinking. It is as they want attention every second of the day. I have also noticed that if they post something sad and get no reply they will then re modify the exact same update. Yes I have to agree.

lol Is this really true? Most facebook users? This study is probably a rubbish one because I don't actually believe this can be true. There are so many facebook users they can't just make such a statement because it's like saying the human race has low self esteem. Anyway I don't care if they have. I'm a facebook user and although I login only once every couple of weeks just to see how people are doing, I don't think I have low self confidence.

I'm not really sure what to think of that "study". The main reason I use Face Book is to keep up with my family and friends as most of them don't live close by. I also do put up a lot of photos yes, but they are mostly of my kids so that their family and my friends can see how much they are growing. If I'm not checking in with family and friends then I am usually playing games!

i disagree with the study as they only judge the people based on what they see from facebook and not up close and personal.

In most of the cases, "studies" are means statistics. It won't hold true for 100% of the people involved 100% of the times. I'm assuming this study, while applies to "majority" of the case, but not all the people who use facebook. Remember, they only need 51% of the group to be considered "majority". While 51% is large amount of people, 49% is still a lot of people & not off by far. In comparison to whole, it doesn't take much to be considered one of "majority" or "minority". Just to put things in perspective, out of 100 people, 49 of them are your average users who just like to keep in touch with friends & family while 51 of them are like what the study says. Difference between the 2 groups are determined only be 2 people. In my opinion, 2 out of 100 really isn't significant enough people to say "most people are narcissists". But strictly speaking in terms of statistics, that's majority of people because "narcissists" make up 51% of the group. I don't know, it just seems too impersonal to me.

Although this may be true, it has some false attributes to it as well. Seeing as a classmate of mines uses Facebook quite a lot, he is actually active in class and the sports activities.

I use Facebook to promote my business. I barely go on it. I think it is depressing... I mean, it really gets me depressed when I go on there. I feel like it's such a competition.

Hi Smilepleeeaz, Well, I am happy to say that I am not on Facebook, but I do know plenty of people who are. These people do not strike me as having low self-esteem at all. Most of the people are well educated and self-assure individuals. I am a sociology major student. So, I would have to ask about the study and how was the study conducted and who were the participates? Was the study done face-to-face, or the telephone, or mailed questionaire? There are many studies that are worthless because of the way they were perform. So, some studies need to be taken with a grain of salt. I do not agree with this finding, that most people who uses Facebook are narcissists, or self-absorbed.

I like that! I guess this is going to prove that this person whom I really dislike has a very low self-esteem cause she promotes herself not just in facebook but in twitter, friendster, youtube and other sites. Good thing its not only me who noticed it also the experts.

Yes, somehow, but I don't think it is really like that. I do the same thing but myself esteem is really high. However, it has sense that a person who is doing these things are are really have a low self esteem. I know other people keep on doing these things, uploading pictures, they want to have friends but on the other hand real friends, I mean they don't have friends in outside the computer. so I think it is possible.

I don't think this study is right. There are millions of users of Facebook. It's hard to conclude such a research.

Hi! This study is interesting. I have a facebook but I don't use it and visit it occasionally just to see recent posts. I don't post myself, or seldom do. I see a lot of posts between my relatives and friends but, personally, I feel uncomfortable with putting private thoughts public, even if they are for laughs. But I leave it be. Good day, smilepleeaz. Am smiling! lol

And people who go to bars have low self esteem and are looking for love. And people who join clubs to meet others with similar interests have low self esteem. And people who go to the gym have low self esteem. It doesn't matter what it is, what matters is the INDIVIDUAL'S reason for going there or doing the activity. I am sure that there are many folks on Facebook with low self esteem, who are lonely and need attention. But I don't believe that there are more there than any other place that brings people together. People do activities for a variety of reasons, but I'll bet that if I tried hard enough, I can find enough people to populate any statistic I want to bend it my way. What's the saying? You have lies, damn lies, and statistics. I would have to take this one with a grain of salt (or three!).

yes!because i have facebook account and i observe it

"Heaved a sigh of relief". Lucky I'm not that interested in Facebook although I have an account there. As for the 'about me' profile thingy, at most I only put what I like, which is aviation, cars and badminton. LOL! Well, but the study didn't state in detail, when using Facebook to promote oneself, how does it make you a low self-esteemed person?

Smilepleeeaz- The first problem I have is that her study was simply part of her undergraduate research, which means she had not yet had time to work in her field, and learn proper research techniques. My second problem is that her sample size was too small, and not diverse. She selected only 100 Facebook users between the ages of 18-25 and there is no statement as to how many were men and how many were women. It did not state what her method was for selection so we cannot assume she used a random selection. They study was flawed from the creation as it did not avoid any of the research fallacies or problems that one faces when creating a qualitative research project, as this type of research would be very difficult to do as she did in a quantitative sense. One of the problems with this type of study is that are simply too many variables, one of them being that the observer changes the nature of the observed. There was nothing in place to make sure that her subjects did not simply do things to provide her with the information she wanted to produce her desired outcome. And there is no way she could have ethically done the research without first telling her subjects. You cannot simply go and study subjects, and then write about them in a study. That would be illegal and something she could potentially get in a lot of trouble for if they find out she did not have the consent of her subjects. Overall, I think the study is flawed, and does not truly tell us anything about the nature of those who use Facebook. There was also no time frame so we have no idea if she observed people for 1 day or 3 months. Namaste-Anora

I think it is a bunch of garbage! I do not see facebook as a place for people with low self esteem. I see it as a place where old friends can reconnect with one another again and let them what is going on with their lives. I think that those dang people need more to do if they are trying to research facebook. Why not research something worth having a study on.

"This study have targeted all those people who very frequently keeps on updating their status and upload pics which are very carefully construed." So the study specifically targeted only narcissists and self-promoters and then concluded that Facebook is full of narcissists and self-promoters? Brilliant! Seriously, if someone constantly updates their profile/status/whatever, that suggests that they love talking about themselves. If the study targets this group of people while excluding other users, of course they'd find a higher proportion of them. __

I believe this study is on the right track full-heartedly. I actually was a Facebook user for a few years before I completely deleted my account a few days ago. Facebook IS a self-promotion tool. When it came out, I was just starting college and it was made FOR college students wanting to connect with possible employers and others in their fields. As the years went on, people began using it as a social tool, and it began to revolve around that aspect rather than for the career and educational fields. Facebook was developed initially to allow young adults to promote themselves into the work force by gathering business contacts and keeping in contact with ex-professors, etc. Once Facebook became an online social gathering, is it not hard to use your profile as a means to put your opinions out there without someone being able to overcome them? If you post something about an opinion, that itself is being promoted to not only your friends and family, but your friend's friends through their pages. I don't know how many women I had to delete as friends because their social photos were ridiculous. It was nearly the same for men, actually, although they tended to use the info section as well as their walls to put out blunt opinions that no one could override...sure, you can comment on it, but even then you are bombarded by the person and people with which they are acquainted. Plus, comments can be deleted. I believe some Facebook users that have this problem do have low self esteem, although I know I have been guilty of putting things I wouldn't normally put on my wall just to "get back" at the people who have hurt me in the past and would see that, etc. I have very high self esteem as a general rule but was seeking to let some people know just how far I've come since years ago when I was a loner. It was pride getting the best of me, and now that I'm off Facebook, I couldn't be happier. I feel no need to post things that everyone will like or agree with...I feel no need to get anxious in the safety of my own home because of what people comment about on Facebook. It reminds me of the feeling of getting rid of a cell phone...freedom! Just like I don't have to worry about someone calling me when I'm trying to relax and have fun, I don't have to please others with what I say in my own house.

I don't agree with that. Aside from that it was designated to reconnect with your long lost friends and other people you know. It depends on other people because I have a friend who keeps on updating his status about himself and the annoying part there is that he is telling everyone that he looks young even the fact that he is already old. If he does not want to get old then better for him to live the world.