As social media continues to expand pervasively over the years, the unswerving usage of its networking sites among college students has also increased. Social networking sites such as Facebook, has “over a billion users around the world” (Vogel, Rose, Roberts & Eckles, 2014), and over half of them log in at a daily basis (Kross et al., 2013). Mark Zuckert created Facebook in 2004 (Ellison et al., 2007), and according to Thompson and Lougheed (2012); ubiquitously, Facebook has a 90% usage rate among young adults in high school and colleges with an average of 1.95 hours per individual who surfaces the Facebook website per day (Thompson & Lougheed, 2012). Due to the notion that young adults mostly use the social networking site of Facebook,
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Users that also use this specific social networking site are able to meet new people or individuals, along with being able to maintain their relationships and express their thoughts and beliefs online (Vogel, Rose, Roberts & Eckles, 2014). The users are also able to create an ideal image of themselves, and maintain an image of what they want others to view. Gender can also play a role to feelings of inadequacy and depressive symptoms. According to Thompson & Lougheed (2012) it was found that ten percent of women in their study agreed that pictures posted by other users gave them a negative view of their body image. The purpose of our present study is to examine whether there is a correlation between Facebook usage and depression in college …show more content…
Our study added to the current body of research about social networking sites among college students and how gender and Facebook usage influenced any potential depressive symptoms that may develop. Our findings have a number of practical applications. First, they could indicate that different interventions based on gender might be useful to social networking sites and depressive symptoms with a larger sample size. Our research also has implications for college professors and university administrators. If they are aware of the negative effects that social networking may have in college students, they can have class sessions, psycho-education, and surveys in order to prevent any negative reflection on body image, self worth, and social comparison in regards to the amount time they use a social networking site in order to prevent any depressive
Users that also use this specific social networking site are able to meet new people or individuals, along with being able to maintain their relationships and express their thoughts and beliefs online (Vogel, Rose, Roberts & Eckles, 2014). The users are also able to create an ideal image of themselves, and maintain an image of what they want others to view. Gender can also play a role to feelings of inadequacy and depressive symptoms. According to Thompson & Lougheed (2012) it was found that ten percent of women in their study agreed that pictures posted by other users gave them a negative view of their body image. The purpose of our present study is to examine whether there is a correlation between Facebook usage and depression in college …show more content…
Our study added to the current body of research about social networking sites among college students and how gender and Facebook usage influenced any potential depressive symptoms that may develop. Our findings have a number of practical applications. First, they could indicate that different interventions based on gender might be useful to social networking sites and depressive symptoms with a larger sample size. Our research also has implications for college professors and university administrators. If they are aware of the negative effects that social networking may have in college students, they can have class sessions, psycho-education, and surveys in order to prevent any negative reflection on body image, self worth, and social comparison in regards to the amount time they use a social networking site in order to prevent any depressive