By Isake Tom

Are you a “friendship addict”? Or a recovering shopaholic? If the answer is yes and you currently have an account on a social networking site such as Facebook, it may be time to deactivate as this is no place for you. This is according to British psychologist David Smallwood’s observations, on the affects of Facebook usage on women and patients suffering from drug, alcohol or shopping addictions. Smallwood  believes social networking sites such as Facebook are fuelling feelings of insecurity among its users.

Though his findings were publicized back in 2008, I believe Dr. Smallwood’s observations are very relevant today. Without a doubt social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have transformed the ways in which people communicate, as well as impacted how we view ourselves and our so called ‘friends’, causing medical experts and scholars to study the effects of these sites on its users.

According to Smallwood, Facebook and other social networking sites are all about acquisition. In his opinion, acquisition refers to a user’s need to acquire as many friends as possible, but I would also like to extend this term to a user’s need to exccessively acquire material possessions to help create and maintain their online personality.

It is this need to appear successful that can fuel addictive behaviours ultimately causing stress and feelings of insecurity, especially detrimental to female users. For us females, feelings of insecurity and inferiority can undoubtedly affect our pocketbooks as some of us usually end up buying more bags, more shoes and more clothes to keep up appearances, and ultimately to feel better about ourselves.

I personally knew someone who bought a new outfit and pair of shoes everytime they had to attend an event, because God forbid they were photographed wearing the same thing twice! Even crazier is the fact that this person and many others like them cannot afford this type of shopping habit. Yet their warped rationale and shopping addiction makes them believe that it’s ok to go into debt just to be “on point” or “current”.

The bottom line is that if a social networking site is affecting your pockets or worse yet conjuring up feelings of insecurity; it’s time to pull the plug on this site. In my opinion, social networking is meant to be a fun and positive way to reconnect, stay connected and be informed of the latest happenings in your network. If this changes into a negative, its time to say GOOD RIDDANCE!

So let’s discuss. Do you agree with Dr. Smallwood’s observations?

Has a social networking site affected your feelings of security and shopping habits?