Facebook Happiness Index

For the past few years, Facebook has been tracking the happiness of its user through their status updates. Facebook creates this Gross National Happiness Index by this by tracking the number of positive and negative words. "Happy words include, naturally, “happy,” “yay” and “awesome”; sad words include “sad,” “doubt” and “tragic,”" according to a recent article by the New York Times. This data shows that people are happier on Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Easter. It also shows that the death of a celebrity like Micheal Jackson or Heath Ledger makes people sad. It also proves what people have long suspected, people are happier on Fridays than they are on Mondays.

While it seems a little far fetched, it is based on principals that are generally accepted by social psychologists. People's word choice does reflect their mood, especially when they are updating their status, which is meant to broadcast what people are doing or how they feel.

While I do enjoy reading about what my friends are doing on Facebook and I do think it is an incredible tool for connecting with people I have lost contact with, I try to limit my use of it. I also make an effort to stop and thing about the impact of what it will have before I post or update. I guess Facebook does reflect my mood, when I post things on it, however, the times when I the happiest I don't think about checking and updating Facebook. I think that it can become a medium of digital bragging, it can also be a great way to share what you are up to and to keep up with friends and family.