Social app Facebook mulls hiding Like counts from News Feed posts to help its users feel less uninteresting at a time when some Like-minded people get depressed over a lack of interest in their posts.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg a few months ago said he wants users to be “less interested in how many likes a post gets, and focus more on connecting with other people.”
- Social media, depression link
The race to get more Likes and attention in the social media platforms have negatively affected adolescent mental health over the years.
According to a study by Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, published at the Clinical Psychological Science in 2017, teens’ use of electronic devices for at least five hours daily more than doubled, from 8 % in 2009 to 19 % in 2015. These teens were 70 % more likely to have suicidal thoughts or actions than those who reported one hour of daily use.
In 2015, 36 % of all teens reported feeling desperate, hopeless, or suicidal, up from 32 % in 2009. The rates were higher for girls — 45 % in 2015 compared to 40 % in 2009.
In 2009, 58 % of 12th-grade girls used social media nearly every day; by 2015, the rate was 87 %.