Just deleted my account today for this reason. A big YES. It definitely does induce stress and anxiety far easier than in the real world.
It is HIGHLY addictive too. You find yourself checking emails every half hour in case you miss someone else’s message or post. Often you would not know this person even if you ran into him or her in the street. Wasted hours fly by. People stay up until all hours of the night, typing things furiously that will only be forgotten a few minutes or hours later and inevitably vanish forever into the archives of cyberspace. Typed scribble that achieves nothing or very little in the real world.
So many users abuse other users and often the abuse is emotional and personal. Then there are the friend requests. Someone from high school who you didn’t really like that much… some guy who wants to be your friend yet he lists “Satan Worship” and “Broadway Show Tunes” as his Interests. Relatives, parents, or siblings also request you, and this induces paranoia. Do they just want to spy on you? Should I accept or not accept? You finally decide not to, then guilt sets in. Others who you did accept become total pains and you don’t know how to get rid of them without hurting their feelings, so you end up just ignoring them. This only makes you feel more guilty.
The stress and anxiety eventually leads to depression, especially when you think someone is your so-called virtual friend (or virtual friend of a virtual friend) and they suddenly turn on you and attack your comments over something that is actually rather trivial. Or they Unfriend you over some remark that you thought was harmless. They block you too, so youo have no way of contacting them again to apologize or resolve the misunderstanding amicably.
It becomes a weird little unsettling world of manicured profiles, carefully worded status’s and newsfeeds.
Now Facebook has added Timelines, which have created more frustration in users, leading to more stress and anxiety.
My advice, if you start to feel stressed on there, even in the slightest, delete your account immediately and go outside. Meet real people in real situations. Walk to a friend’s or relative’s place in the sunshine and fresh air. Go see a relaxing movie. Smell a flower in the garden, in fact do some gardening. Watch a butterfly, or a bird take straw into a tree to build a nest. Marvel at life away from your computer screen. Pick up the phone and call someone who you actually do know.
Resist the urge to go back online to post just one more cool or smart or irrelevant comment. You will thank yourself in the long run if you kick the habit for good.
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