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Facebook's real problem

2012-05-23

While class action suits rage around Wall Street and the shares of Facebook continue their third day of sell offs ( http://on.wsj.com/LpyLUK ), the real problem behind the world's biggest social media site may be the unhappiness of the users.

JWT Intelligence reports on research done in Singapore, China and the US that reveals

  1. 57% of people feel jealous of others on social media sites
  2. 55% feel bad after taking a glimpse at other people's lives via social media
  3. 62% feel pressure to be witty on social media
  4. 57% feel social media interactions are a source of stress

While feeling bad isn't necessarily a bad business model (newspapers have for years plied doomsday headlines in order to lure readers), it must be a worrying trend for the social media site in a world driven towards instand gratification and happiness.

Other fascinating items revealed in the research are that social media has permeated even the most private aspects of our lives with 11% of people checking social media sites while in bed with a partner and even 7% while having intimate moments.

The full report is at http://bit.ly/Jw21Pw