The advent of digital media has paved the way to a faster and easier communication. Also, undoubtedly, its emergence came with a fair share of risks along the benefits, and adding to either of these two is a discovery from University of Cambridge and Stanford Business School researchers. With the use of social media's behemoth, Facebook, one's mental health can now be analyzed.
The researchers' findings note that using Mark Zuckerberg's social site is a perfect avenue to get information straight from an individual's conscious and subconscious mind, as reported by The Guardian. Statuses, photos and even reactions to Facebook posts are cited to be "more reliable" than an offline account from the individual.
Further, what the researchers consider a treasure trove of information are the statuses that a person shares. Using a language syntax tool, a person's mental health condition enables mental disorders--like schizophrenia and depression--along with its symptoms to be easily detected. For the photos, there is also a unique tool for analyzing an individual's facial expressions which determine a person's behavior even offline.
In a report by Quartz, Facebook is gradually on its way of replacing the Internet itself. Users of the social media site have reached to 1.79 billion, nearly a quarter of the world's population. Further, Internet users around the globe are just twice as Facebook users--around 3.42 billion.
The researchers also suggest that Facebook can utilize this information sooner or later. As what the social media site does in sorting out individuals into segments-say, gender, age or interests-mental health can also be sorted out into neat labels.
With these findings, and considering the possible revenue that can be earned by Mark Zuckerberg and company, it cannot be impossible that the next thing Facebook will establish is an online support for those with poor mental health. Is this among the benefits of digital media? No one yet knows for sure, at least for now.
Do you think it's a good thing that Facebook can be used to analyze a person's mentality or not? Let us know what you think by commenting below!
