New Era Of Peer Pressure As Facebook Ruins Countless Lives

"Look at all your friends Jimmy, look how happy they are. How come you're not with them Jimmy? Oh, they don't like you? You are a social outcast? Oooooh. And look here, everybody can see that right here on Facebook."

Growing up was hard in my time, but I can see how these new broadcast capabilities could really hurt a kid. I love it when people are shocked by these "cyber" bullying stories. We were all kids once right? Do some people forget that kids are complete bastards? Some of the meanest people on the planet? It's almost like having kids blocks out memory for some people and they can't call a spade a spade anymore.

I will say this "sexting" thing sounds cool though. We didn't have that when I was a kid. Also pissed that whenever I see a picture of a teacher that had an "affair" with a male student, the teacher is always SMOKIN' HOT. We didn't have teachers like that. Damn.

Add "Facebook depression" to potential harms linked with social media, an influential doctors' group warns, referring to a condition it says may affect troubled teens who obsess over the online site.

Researchers disagree on whether it's simply an extension of depression some kids feel in other circumstances, or a distinct condition linked with using the online site.

But there are unique aspects of Facebook that can make it a particularly tough social landscape to navigate for kids already dealing with poor self-esteem, said Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, a Boston-area pediatrician and lead author of new American Academy of Pediatrics social media guidelines.

With in-your-face friends' tallies, status updates and photos of happy-looking people having great times, Facebook pages can make some kids feel even worse if they think they don't measure up.

It can be more painful than sitting alone in a crowded school cafeteria or other real-life encounters that can make kids feel down, O'Keeffe said, because Facebook provides a skewed view of what's really going on. Online, there's no way to see facial expressions or read body language that provide context.

The guidelines urge pediatricians to encourage parents to talk with their kids about online use and to be aware of Facebook depression, cyberbullying, sexting and other online risks. They were published online Monday in Pediatrics.

[Associated Press]