Are posts and status updates in Facebook a reflection of our emotions?

Chetna had been facing some bad days both at workplace and in her personal life. Life did not seem  hunky dory all of a sudden. She was getting into a severe mode of depression and felt, that she had lost her happiness somewhere. Work was getting stressful and she was having some compatibility problems with her husband. She had a small circle of friends with whom she shared her problems, but that did not ease her pain. Chetna wanted to express her inner turmoil and emotions but she did not know how to go about it. She did not have a clue about how to ease her depressed mental state.

That night, after coming back from work Chetna decided to login to Facebook. It had been ages and she felt that probably looking at the updates of her relatives and friends would  divert her from her own problems for some time. She came across a couple of photos that had been uploaded by some of her friends. Some of them had shared beautiful quotes, which described how life was being so nice and lucky for them. One read, “The world around me looks so colorful.” Somebody’s status update read, “One thing you can’t hide is when you are crippled inside.”One friend had shared some beautiful images, which said

Seeing these status updates Chetna realized that, most of her friends were sharing their positive and negative emotions in Facebook. Chetna felt that probably sharing her inner turmoil to the outside world would lessen her burden and ease her pain. Chetna shared an image in her Facebook timeline and posted a status update, which read, “The more importance you give to somebody in your life you lose your importance in their life”. She felt a little relaxed and was feeling much light at heart.

The above situation is typical of most of the Facebook profiles that we come across every day. How many of us post a status update or share an image, which indirectly reflects our mental state of mind and emotional stress? In my opinion as a Society, we have started to depend on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to express our smallest of irritations or the biggest of problems. I am not going to say whether this expression of our mental status on Social network sites is good or bad. I am going to leave it for the readers to judge and give their opinions. All I wish to say is that it is easier to express ourselves to the world and speak our mind hiding behind a wall.

These status updates are but a reflection of the desperate need for attention that brings us to express our feelings in social networks. However, this opinion is not a general statement and such updates depend on the personality of the individual as well. Some would want to share even the slightest of irritation through a Facebook post, while there are others who can actually maintain the balance between the real life and the virtual one.

Facebook, Twitter or any Social network are a great platform to share with the outside world our ideas, photos, videos and jokes. It is great to let the outside world know how happy we are and let the world also feel elated about it. It is indeed good to share our happiness with our friends and relatives because when we share our happiness the world will  smile with us.

However, to me personally, sharing our depressed mental state of mind in social networks is a no-no because it is better to deal with our emotional stress directly rather than fighting with it through social networks. It is better to share our pain with a selected few rather than letting the world know about it. It is a very delicate and sensitive situation. It may sometimes have a negative effect. As said earlier this greatly depends on the personality of the individual. Such updates in social network sides could be therapeutic to many and may have a negative impact on some.

According to a recent study Facebook and Twitter has become a widely used communication platform. We have come to depend so much on Facebook through which we exhibit our emotions to the outside world. 

Now let me ask something. Does expressing our emotions in Facebook give us a sense of a reassurance that everything is fine? Are we becoming emotionally and mentally strong by expressing ourselves in Facebook? These are some questions to ponder and require some self-reflection.