Can social media cause distress?

[Gareth]

Yes, they can be extremely closely linked. The notification walls on social media sites (such as facebook), is constantly plastered with details of friends and associates' activities over the weekends. This can bring about feelings of distress in people who observe these posts. This can often lead to people spending hours on social networking sites observing the lives of others and feeling unhappy or distressed if they compare it to their own activities/lives and feel they come out of the comparison unfavorably.