It's what you do on Facebook that matters.
问题在于你在脸书上做了什么
Posted Dec 03, 2015
A variety of studies have indicated that using Facebook can damage people’s mood and emotional well-being, making them feel more depressed and/or lonely (e.g., Why Rejection on Facebook Hurts as Much as in Real Life). These findings raise two questions:
各种各样的研究显示使用脸书能够破坏人的心情和情绪健康，使他们觉得更加压抑并且/或者更加孤独。这些发现提出以下两个问题：
1. Why does using Facebook make some people experience a drop in emotional well-being?
为什么使用脸书会使一些人的情绪健康感很低？
2. What can Facebook users do to avoid feeling bad?
脸书的使用者做什么可以避免糟糕的感觉？
A new study in The Journal of Experimental Psychology seems to have found answers to both these questions.
实验心理学期刊上的新研究似乎可以给出这两个问题的答案。
Researchers instructed 84 undergraduate participants to use Facebook in one of two ways for 10 minutes. One group was instructed to use Facebook actively. Active usage includes direct exchanges with others such as posting or sharing updates and links, and responding to or commenting on friends’ posts or private messages. The second group was instructed to use Facebook passively: Passive usage includes consuming information but without direct exchanges such as, reading News Feeds, looking at their friends’ updates and pictures, or scrolling through fan pages. Active users were told to avoid passive use and passive users to avoid active use.
研究人员指导84名大学生参与使用脸书，两种方法中选一种持续使用10分钟。研究人员指导一组参与者积极地使用脸书。活跃使用包括直接与他人交换信息，比如发送消息或者分享更新和连接，并且回复和评论朋友的消息或私人消息。指导第二组参与者消极地使用脸书：消极使用包括消耗信息却不直接交换信息，比如阅读新的回复，查看朋友们更新的消息和图片，或者滚动浏览粉丝专页。告诫脸书的积极使用者要避免消极使用行为，并且告诫脸书的消极使用者要避免积极使用行为。
The researchers found that passive Facebook users felt significantly worse emotionally at the end of the day while active Facebook users did not. They also discovered why this happens—envy.
研究人员发现，脸书的消极使用者在一天结束时很明显地感觉到情绪非常糟糕，而积极使用者则不会这样。他们还发现会发生这种情况的原因——嫉妒。
The researchers noted that people on Facebook tend to portray themselves in flattering ways and post far more positive and happy updates and pictures than negative ones, creating a very skewed picture of their lives. Indeed, while 52% of participants indicated they use Facebook to share good things with friends, only 7% said they use Facebook to share bad developments.
研究人员还注意到，人们在脸书上倾向于以一种漂亮的方式装扮自己，并且发布的积极的消息、快乐的最新动态和照片，远比发布消极信息和照片多得多，他们创造出一种极度歪曲生活的图片。的确，52%的参与者暗示自己使用脸书跟朋友们分享好的东西，仅有7%的人承认自己使用脸书发布坏消息。
The seemingly charmed lives everyone seems to be portraying can make passive Facebook users feel their lives do not measure up by comparison, thus causing envy which is known to elicit drops in emotional well-being.
人人似乎都装扮着看似多姿多彩的生活，在这样的对比之下，脸书的消极使用者会觉得他们的生活没有达标，从而引起嫉妒之情，诱发情绪上的低落。
Therefore, Facebook users should be advised to exercise caution when using Facebook by following these three guidelines.
因此，应该建议脸书使用者在使用脸书的时候要谨慎行事，遵循下面三个准则：
How to Use Facebook in an Emotionally Healthy Way 如何以情绪健康的方式使用脸书
1. When using Facebook, make sure to balance passive scrolling with active usage such as posting or responding to your friends.
当使用脸书的时候，确保保持消极滚动浏览和积极使用（诸如发布消息或者回复朋友等）之间的平衡。
2. Avoid using Facebook passively when you feel depressed, low, or lonely, as passive usage is likely to make you feel worse.
当你感觉到抑郁、低落或者孤独的时候避免消极地使用脸书，因为消极地使用很可能会让你感觉更糟。
3.There is a growing body of research indicating that Facebook usage can have addictive qualities, which might explain why people continue to use Facebook even when it makes them feel bad. If you feel you might be too ‘attached’ to your Facebook page, consider taking a break from Facebook for a week and see if your mood increases. Do stay in touch with people in your life but do so using other means such as email, text, or maybe even speaking with them on the phone or meeting face-to-face.
有越来越多的身体研究表明脸书的使用会有上瘾的特质，这也许就解释了为什么脸书使自己感觉很糟时人们依旧继续使用脸书。如果你感觉到可能过于沉迷于你的脸书专业，考虑停止使用脸书一个星期，并且看看你的心情是否有所好转。和你生活中的朋友保持联系，但是要使用其他的联系方式比如邮件、短信或者甚至是通话和见面。