Recently, there have been some posts going around stemming from this article about “Fakebooking” on Facebook, which you can read HERE. I found this article through MizFitOnline and MissZippy. There have been multiple studies out recently that indicate that Facebook causes depression when you look on the fb feed, see happy people with perfect babies, vacations, spouse, house, and just about everything else. Although,these cases are isolated, it got me thinking, does this actually happen? People get depressed over someone else’s happy moments? Really?
What else are you supposed to put on facebook? How your life sucks? How your laundry smells like mildew because you haven’t had the energy to place it in the dryer? How your car looks like a bomb went off? Your house is filthy? How your cat barfs at 3am and wakes the colicky baby? How about, “I finally cleaned the bathroom today, when when the toilet overflowed, I’m great at multitasking!” (That has actually happened to me a few times)
We all know that at one time or another the above has been us. I have had every one one of these scenarios happen to me at one time or another, as I am sure you have, too. Do the people of facebook want to hear these things? Will this reduce depression? Or if I don’t put these things up, does this make me fake? One time, in an exhausted delerium, I put cat barf on my facebook page and I am sure I offended and was unfriended.
The fact is that people put things on facebook that they are happy about, proud of, or excited over. Does this depress me or make me think these people are fake? NO! And it shouldn’t do that to you, either. People who are fake in real life are fake on facebook. If seeing someone’s feed bothers you, either stay off facebook or change your settings so that you don’t see that person. No one’s life is perfect. Sooner or later, we all struggle, so why not celebrate someone else’s successes? Or “like” when someone is on vacation or excited that their baby took their first step? Geeze, let’s have some compassion!
I, for one, am thrilled to hear about these things. OK, so some people go overboard with status updates and sharing, but give them break, too. Why are we so annoyed, bothered by, or envious of others? When you feel this way it’s often good to go straight to the mirror and ask yourself: “Why does this make me uncomfortable?” If you think someone’s life is perfect while yours is not, then there lies the problem.
No one is perfect, and we all struggle through this crazy life, so why not be there for each other? lift people up, instead of dragging another person down to make yourself feel better? So, I have included some of the less than pleasant things about my life, feel free to “ewww” in the comments and don’t tell me that some of these things haven’t happened to you…
Stop falling into the envy trap! The only person it hurts is you. If you feel yourself annoyed over facebook feed, remind yourself that their is not one person on earth who has a perfect life, no one is that happy every second of the day, happiness is a choice. As you can see by my photos and by many of my posts, that I am not perfect and I’m glad, because I’m very confident that would be incredibly boring. Now, you still want to be friends with me?
Here are a few of my favorite posts about being less than perfect:
“Confessions o a Fitness Blogger” by Mom’s Little Running Buddy
“Pull Back the Curtain” by Miss Zippy
“True Life: I’m Not Perfect but Facebook Things I Am” by So Cal Runner Gal
How about you? What’s your dirty little secret?
