Psychological effects of Social Media?

Its your birthday and you log onto Facbeook. How many people have posted a happy birthday on your wall? A few, 10, 50, 100, 150, more? It sounds childish but how many people acknowledge your birthday on Facebook can make or break a birthday. In away it means you're well liked and people care, but it also means you have a lot of friends. Something most people strive for. But what happens if not that many friends wish you happy birthday on Facebook? How do you feel? Sad? Yeah, I would. I know on my birthdays I look forward to reading what people wish me happy birthday and what they say. Most of them are the generic "happy birthday!" and others more personal. But when good friends of mine don't wish me happy birthday on Facebook it kind of hurts-- sort of like a slap in the face saying they really don't care that much. Instances like this, that are experience through social media can be damaging to ones self image.

So that brings me to my question. Are there psychological effects of social media from sites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and other social networking/media sites?

On our social media sites, we all want to post ourselves in the best light possible. We choose the best looking profile pictures, post on peoples walls to seem popular, carefully scan through and untag any unflattering picture, and the list goes on and on. But there has to be psychological effects from using these sites. Like comparing ourselves to other people we know. I doubt most people would admit it, but most people have had that moment while creeping friends profile pictures and feel a little less pretty. Maybe its a girl thing, but i'm sure the same could happen to guys. That can't be healthy to our self-esteem or confidence.

Yeah its natural to compare ourselves to others, by nature we are jealous and competitive, but social media sites almost take it to the next level by giving us a place out of the real world to continue our competition and comparing in a virtual world.

For example, the cases where girls have committed suicide after something embarrassing or hurtful happened on a social media site. It's a really powerful tool if you use it in the wrong way.

In a way though we are putting our selves in these positions to get our feelings hurt or feel left out. We choose to be apart of these sites that allow us to be exposed to ways for us to get emotionally hurt. We are posting up our lives for others to judge. Everyone is judgmental, so when we expose our selves like the way we do on social media sites, we are basically asking for it.

I like social media, I think the pros of them definitely outweigh the cons but I really think there are heavy psychological effects that can come from them. And we should definitely try to be aware of them, or figure them out so we can try to avoid the nasty consequences.