Facebook to boost self-esteem
Social networking among hundreds of millions of users does more than just help maintain contact and foster healthy relationships with friends. Furthermore, Facebook and similar platforms primarily enhance the personal well-being of individual users.
Activity in social networks promotes self-esteem and self-respect, as scientists at Cornell University found out, according to the press release. After all, most users look good when they look in the networking mirror.
The vast majority of users present themselves from their best side on social networks - at least in the subjective perception of the profile operator. The online ego even enables users to emphasize characteristics that they would not show in "real life". They can decide for themselves what information and characteristics they reveal about themselves and share with others on the social web. Anything that could cast a bad light on the user, on the other hand, is filtered and has no place in their virtual reality.
The image that users see of themselves online in the mirror of social networks therefore often corresponds to their own ideals - in contrast to the image in a real mirror. Facebook can show a positive version of ourselves, according to Jeffrey Hancock, professor at Cornell University. According to the expert, this version is not even deceptive, but it is consistently positive. What's more, the usually effusive, appreciative feedback that users receive from friends on the web in the form of comments and clicks on the Like button further boosts self-esteem.
