Social Networks – Sources of Emotional Stress?

The prevalent opinion on social networks is that they help to overcome emotional stress arising from the absence of direct social contacts. Social networks help people to connect who otherwise would be alone and without social interaction. Considering what I just said, it might sound absurd, but social networks can also be the actual reason for emotional stress.
The following paragraphs display some selected aspects of how social networks might also function as negative stress creators:

Ending of friendships – ’defriending’:
Once you registered for Facebook & Co., you start adding friend by friend; your community grows further and further. But what happens if one of your friends unilaterally decides to end the friendship? The psychiatrist Irene Levine from NYU School of Medicine states that ‘defriending’ can have very negative psychological consequences and will provoke emotional stress. This is especially true, since virtual friendships are unilaterally ended as opposed to most ‘normal’ friendships. In real life, friendships are more often ended in ‘mutual agreement’, thereby leaving fewer open questions unanswered.

Facebook triggers attacks for asthmatics
It might sound funny but this story really happened: A jealous 18 year old boy regularly had asthmatic attacks when logging in to Facebook. The reason was that he always expected his girlfriend having added still another male contact. The attacks became even worse when his girlfriend left him and deleted his contact from her profile. The doctors advised him to wear a mask to measure his respiratory volume. As soon as the young man connected to Facebook, his respiratory volume declined by more than 20%. After he stopped being on Facebook, no more asthmatic attacks have occurred since then. This case indicates that Facebook, and social networks in general, could be a new source of psychological stress, representing a triggering factor for exacerbations in depressed asthmatic individuals.

Social Networks addiction
In order to show the addiction potential of social networks, scientists from the University of Maryland carried out a test which was called ‘24 Hours: Unplugged’. Two hundred students agreed on not using social networks for 24 hours. The result of this study was astonishing. Many participants reported on having experienced agitation, extreme nervousness, tension and freakiness and – all of them being withdrawal symptoms similar to those usually related to alcohol and drugs.

Social pressure to connect & steady fear of missing something
US-psychologists found out that people of all ages feel pressure to be connected in social networks. But the pressure is so immense that the first users have left social networks again.
A recently published study of the Pew Internet & American Life Project discovered that 45 percent of all Americans are enthusiastic about being connected through social networks while 48 percent do not care about social networks at all. The most important group revealed by the study is the remaining 7 percent. They are neither interested in social nor do they refuse them at all. This group was identified as ‘ambivalent network users’. These users only participate in social networking because they fear to miss something. They are afraid leaving the networks, though they desire a break. The ultimate result is - again - emotional stress.

So, do we have now to be afraid of social networks creating emotional stress? I do not really think so.
The stress-aspects I listed above are only true for a limited number of persons in limited situations. If you feel addressed by one of these aspects, you should consider not using social networking platforms; there are other means to connect with friends and colleagues. Many social networkers, however, still seem to profit far more from their networks than being negatively influenced by the possible stress factors mentioned in my report.

References:
Social networks - forced to connect.
http://www.stern.de/digital/online/soziale-netzwerke-zum-vernetzen-gedraengt-660971.html

Stressed to be online all time.
http://www.bernerzeitung.ch/leben/gesellschaft/Der-Stress-staendig-online-zu-sein/story/16802717

Defriended, not de-emoted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/fashion/05noticed.html

Facebook triggers asthmatic attacks.
http://www.welt.de/gesundheit/article11048217/Facebook-loest-bei-Asthmatiker-Anfaelle-aus.html

Social networks can provoke withdrawal syndroms.
http://www.pressemitteilungen-online.de/index.php/soziale-netzwerke-koennen-suchtartige-entzugserscheinungen-hervorrufen/