Research paper about how Facebook affects mood?

[new2sk8ing]

I have to write a research paper (not due for a while but I need a topic) and it has to be about Facebook. I was thinking about writing about how Facebook can affect the moods of it's users. I've read a few articles about it online, so I think it could be a good topic. Would it make a good topic do you think? It needs to be a topic I can argue about, and I'm pretty sure I can.

[Lexical]

That sounds interesting, but how would you argue a potential thesis one way or the other? You could submit a questionnaire to your facebook friends and have them fill it out, such as this:

1. When did you begin using facebook (how old were you and what year was it, approximately?)
2. How much time a day do you spend on facebook?
3. If you can't get on facebook when you want to, how do you feel?
4. If you were forced to give up facebook for a month, how do you think you would feel?
5. Does logging onto facebook help you unwind after a particularly stressful or upsetting day?
6. Do you share details on facebook that you think you would have trouble sharing with people face to face?
7. Do you have a facebook rituatl- that is, a set of behaviours you tend to engage in while on facebook (ie: you only log on after your homework is done and everything has been done for the day, you like to drink coffee or eats snacks when you are online, or you always play a certain game before updating your status)?
8. What do you do on facebook? Do you use facebook to alleviate boredom, to vent, to feel connected to others, etc?
9. Does facebook help you emotionally? In what ways? Do you think facebook could be considered therapeutic in any respects? Do you feel that some people may be addicted to facebook?
10. How do you feel facebook affects your overall mood? Do you ever forego sleep or meals to "be" on facebook? Do you interact with people less "in real life" since you started using facebook?
11. Do you suffer from any diagnosed mental health condition, such as depression or social anxiety?

It is best to ask many questions and question many people, then look for trends to suggest links... or instance, if people begin using facebook regularly prior to age 10 tend to be more likely to be diagnosed with social anxiety, or those that that spend more than an hour a day on facebook feel significantly more depressed when they are unnable to log on. You can make charts and graphs to show correlations between behavior... but remember.... multiple questions and try to get a large group of people and also a group of "non-facebook" users. You might also want to ask both facebook users and non-facebook users to take multiple online tests such as tests which score for depression (and give a numerical number) and tests which also score for hyperactivity and Autistic traits. You may be able to "prove" that significantly more people who score highly on ADHD scales spend more time on facebook than those that rarely or never use it, and people who score highly for "autistic" tendencies tend to spend more time playing games or using facebook apps as opposed to interacting with others online. If you want to focus solely on mood, you might also want to ask about lighting (lighting can and does affect mood), diet (diet affects mood and people who are obsessed with the net might not eat regularly or might eat more processed foods), activity level and obesity, etc.... If you want to make a comparison that facebook use over, say, 10 hours a week (as an example) yields greater depression scores in 80% of people, you need a large base to grade against and need to also inquire about eating habits and as many other factors as possible.

You might also find that extroverts tend to update their status more and comment on their friends status and photos whereas introverts tend to use fb to play games or take quizzes. You could ask participants to tell you their MBTI (Myers Brigg Type) and ask them questions about what they do on fb. The list is endless.

For the record, I use fb primarily to document photos for *myself* and talk to my sister, and generally don't check up on other people. For me, facebook is less a social media tool and more an online scrapbook. My MBTI type is INTP, etc... I can get spaced out if I spend too long on-line because of the lighting and because I can miss meals when I am doing something, but I will also forget to eat if I am writing, painting or reading so that behavior is not exclusive to fb use. If facebook didn't exist I don't think I would be anymore sociable than I already am, and probably less sociable as I am a hermit by nature and fb is my main way of interacting with others. Etc...

Good luck. And remember to use graphs and charts to show trends. A control group (people who don't use fb or even the net) is also very helpful for helping to establish "normal" behavior.