Facebook Depression
Before you read: Some questions to help you to think about the topic.
Have you heard of this situation before?
If you were a teenager, would you be really worried about how many friends you have?
A new phenomenon called ‘Facebook depression’ refers to a condition that may adversely affect trouble teens who obsess over online social networking sites. Watching photos of happy-looking people having great times on their friends’ Facebook pages, some kids may feel worried if they think they don’t measure up. It can be even more painful than sitting alone in a crowded school cafeteria because Facebook provides a skewed view of what’s really going on.
If you really didn’t have that many friends and weren’t really doing much with your life, and saw other peoples’ status updates and pictures and what they were doing with friends that would make me upset, “ a student said. “It is like a big popularity contest – who can get the most friend requests or get the most pictures tagged,” she said.
However, an adolescent medicine specialist said the benefits of kids using social media sites like Facebook shouldn’t be overlooked such as connecting with friends and family, sharing pictures and exchanging ideas. “A lot of what’s happening is actually very healthy, “ she said Facebook can enhance feelings of social connectedness among kids and have the opposite effect on those prone to depression. She said parents shouldn’t get the idea that using Facebook is going to somehow infect their kids with depression.
Guessing meaning from context
Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. The answers are below the table.
| phenomenon | A | 1 | Crazy about, think about all the time |
| adversely | B | 2 | Meet or reach a standard |
| obsess | C | 3 | A young person |
| measure up | D | 4 | An unusual event, something unique |
| skewed | E | 5 | To make better/improve/bigger/greater/more attractive |
| adolescent | F | 6 | Likely to happen |
| enhance | G | 7 | Something like a statistic that goes too far in one direction |
| prone | H | 8 | Understand based on some information |
| get the idea | I | 9 | Stopping success, negative effect |
A=4, B=9, C=1, D=2, E=7, F=3, G=5, H=6, I=8
Some example sentences using the new words to help you to better understand their meaning.
There have been phenomenal changes in our lives because of what the Internet can now do.
I believe that social networking sites are good, but also have adverse effects such as making us lose time, for example, my friend is obsessed with checking his Facebook every ten minutes.
It’s stressful to be a teenager because you have to measure up to parents and friends expectations.
Some people say that the Korean SAT tests are skewed because students with the best memories get the best results.
Adolescents are prone to feelings of depression.
Many people have gotten the idea that they need plastic surgery to enhance their appearance.
Some discussion questions using the new words to help you better understand the word meaning and how to use them correctly. Try to use the words in your answer.
What is your opinion on this Facebook (or other social networking sites) phenomenon?
How much of an adverse effect do you think social networking sites have on adolescents? In other words, how much do you agree with this story, and why?
Do you know somebody who is obsessed with something? Can you describe them?
How would you measure success in your job? How well do you feel you measure up?
From the reading, how does Facebook give a skewed view of what’s happening?
If you were the CEO of Facebook, how would you enhance your service?
What kind of teenagers are prone to feeling depressed because of things like in this story?
Why shouldn’t parents get the idea that Facebook is going to make people depressed?
ECK Education
