Parents, this is not some kind of a joke. A report published on Monday in the Official Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics suggests (or warns!) parents with questionable data on ‘Facebook depression’. The report has highlighted excellent data and advice on parents of such social media users.
The Clinical Report
The PDF version of clinical report on ‘The Impact of Social Media on Children’ stated the data which shows use of social media among teens and pre-teens has increased potentially over the last five years, as with the use of text messages and mobile phones. The ‘limited capacity of self-regulation’ and ‘susceptibility to peer pressure’ tends to increase risks of depression in adolescents and teens for their relentless involvement in social media. Despite the benefits of social media including community engagement, augmentation of creativity with the growth of ideas, sharing interests and expanding connectivity, promoting identity and talents; potential of risks in participation of social media are not avoidable. The list of risks that directly link to ‘Facebook depression’ include online harassment, threat to privacy, and cyberbullying etc. Intensity of the online world may aggravate the depression among kids and adolescents. Such conditions could lead them to suffer from social isolation and make them further depend on websites and blogs and arouse self-destructive or aggressive behaviors.      Â
Pediatrics’ advice
A group of influential doctors referred to a condition in which troubled teens showed excessive obsession over the online social network sites and they named this condition as ‘Facebook Depression’. Researchers are yet to conclude whether ‘Facebook depression’ is an extension of general depression condition and self-inadequacy or it is directly linked to the use of this online social networking website. But, Dr. Gwenn O’Keeffe, a Boston based area pediatrician and lead author of new American Academy of Pediatrics Social Media Guidelines, could not ward off certain impacts of Facebook on the health of teens. According to Dr. Gwenn O’Keeffe, some unique aspects of Facebook have been creating challenging social terrain for kids and teens, already suffering from poor self esteem.Â
Boisterous status updates drain your children’s self-esteem  Â
O’Keeffe has pointed to the biased and boisterous status updates in addition to photo albums and videos revealing great times shared by people and said that they are potent to cause a feeling of insufficiency in kids when they cannot measure up with people in the posts. If kids are spending hours of their days looking over Facebook friends’ status updates and photo albums, then those ‘happy faces’ albums and reading energetic status updates may increase sadness, anxiety and depression in them. A recent study (in 2011) by Jordon from Stanford University in California has shown how students, especially teenagers, feel unworthy about themselves after looking over or reading status updates or viewing photos of friends on Facebook.
