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Holly Vander Pol

Dr. Cottrill
Seminar
December 2, 2014
Happiness has various definitions. With so many options, happiness can be defined to
fit anyones life. Happiness is something that is felt and is different for everyone. For some
people, the simplest acts can make someones day and bring them great happiness. Research
from Lyumbomirskys book shows that for some, a thing as small as telling them that they look
nice can boost their mood and leave them feeling as happy as can be. Today, social media
platforms like Twitter and Facebook enable in-the-moment reflection of people's attitudes,
attention, and emotions in a scale that was never available before (Sigchi). As this article
shows, social media is giving society new ways of expressing how they feel. With so many
people now relying on social media, happiness can be found easily. Contrarily, people who
often get what they what when they want, are harder to please. Unless they have a very
genuine heart and are thankful for lots of things in life, most people have learned to take many
things for granted such as having a house to go to everyday and clean water to drink. As Lena
Holmberg stated in her article, Moreover, three groups varying on happiness did not differ on
various forms of social connectedness; however, very happy individuals reported having more
genuine online friends than all other groups. Holmberg illustrates that people with genuine
happiness feel more connected to their genuine friends online and find happiness from that
source. While this is true for some, it isnt true for others. Because of that, it is a lot harder to
make people happy.

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In todays society, social media has turned into a large source where people turn to for
happiness. However, the opposite has begun to take its toll. While many people are turning to
sites such as Facebook to find happiness, they are discovering that they are feeling more
depressed and unsatisfied as found in the article by Marche. By comparing themselves to what
their friends are doing, feelings of disappointment and jealousy are often experienced in
correlation to someone posting about getting a promotion or hanging out with their best
friend.

Social media from Facebook to Twitter have made us more densely networked

than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier
(or more narcissistic) and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill.
(Marche). However, for some, happiness is achieved. Seeing good news and exciting events
can be a cause of happiness in that aspect. There are still areas where happiness is found in
social media, it is just becoming harder and harder to do so.
A happiness project is a course of events taken to, in hope, accomplish the task of
becoming happier. My happiness project revolved around Facebook. I never realized how
often I used it until I made a decision to stop using it. I conducted my project by keeping track
of my happiness for starters, and then, cutting back on my use of Facebook. I wanted to do this
because I wanted to find out if social media really did have an effect on my happiness.
To start it off, I removed the app from the front page of my phone. With it sitting right
there in front of my face, it became a habit for me every time I unlocked my phone. I found
myself tapping on the app without realizing it. Especially when I put a different app in its place.
I replaced it with a devotional app to also start a new trend in my life by reading a new
devotional every day. Facebook was still accessible on my phone, however, it was no longer in

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plain sight to tempt me. I didnt want to fully delete the app off of my phone so that I could still
access it when I needed to. Multiple events were taking place that week such as my boyfriends
senior pictures being posted, as well as my brothers engagement pictures being revealed.
With news ever changing, I decided to keep the app on my phone, just out of sight.
Before I really started the project, I would consider myself as generally unhappy. With a
lot of different events going on in my life, such as family issues and college changes, it was hard
for me to focus on the good. However, basing my feelings of loneliness off of my own personal
emotions wasnt enough. In my seminar class we took a survey multiple times at different
points in the semester. My results from the Subjective Happiness Scale were as follows. My
average score after the correlation of 4 different times was 3.9. My score was lower than
average. This doesnt surprise me however because my life has been ever changing since we
started taking the surveys. The first time we took the survey, September 4, my first score was a
3.5. My reasons for this score were, moving away from home and not exactly fitting in. Both
very crucial parts of my happiness. The next time we took the survey was on September 23rd.
We took the survey twice this day. My first score was a 3.1 out of a 7 and my second score
jumped up to a 5. Coming into class that day I was feeling really down and stressed about life
and what I wanted to do/where I wanted to be. The second survey showed that after focusing
my attention on class, I was able to actually enjoy it more and stop focusing on all the bad. On
October 30th my survey score was a 4. I have felt much better about my situations and more at
peace because of the decisions to attend a different school as well as feeling more at peace
with my own emotions (Lyumbomirsky).

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The second survey we did was called the Satisfaction with Life Scale by Ed Diener. My
average score after this scale was 23 out of 35. According to the paper that listed out the
results, I landed in the average category. That particular category states a lot about how people
in this area are generally satisfied with certain areas of their lives, but they still have areas
where they are struggling or would like to improve. My first scale reading on the 4th of
September was a 19 which was slightly dissatisfied. The next two scales on the 23rd of
September were each 25, slightly satisfied. On October 30th, my score was a 23. Which, again,
falls in the slightly satisfied category (Diener). I agree with this scale because I am neither
totally dissatisfied nor satisfied.
Being put generally in the middle fits my life to a T. There are days when everything hits
me at once, and then there are other days when I am blessed with happiness when my life is
overwhelmed with brokenness. I also tracked my happiness on Mood Panda the week before
starting my happiness project. After looking at the graphs presented, I found that I never rated
feeling any better than a 7 on a 1-10 scale with my lowest being a 1. That specific week was
one filled with emotions. I was just beginning the process of deciding to transfer to another
school as well as stressful classes. I also found that I am happiest on Fridays. That is no
surprise. I live for the weekends and being able to go home. To give an understanding of how
my emotions varied, I have been hugged on Mood Panda 12 times (fun fact). A hug on Mood
Panda is just an option someone can do to show that they are supporting you or are feeling
sympathetic towards your post that point in time. Being in a seminar class thats main focus is
happiness is extremely ironic for me because of the negative emotions I had been feeling
before college. Coming into college and expecting a lot of different things to take place and

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then being let down to most of them not, really took a toll on my happiness. Using the results
of the various surveys as a baseline for my happiness project set me up for large areas of
success.
To track my results, every day I would write down the number of times I was tempted to
get on Facebook as well as the number of times I actually did. I also recorded what I was doing
during that time as well. I tracked my happiness the first week of my project with Mood Panda,
and I switched over to My Happiness Tracker for the second week. Mood Panda is an online
site also available in app form that allowed me to type in what I was feeling at that point in the
day. When I would log onto Mood Panda, it would ask how I was feeling at that point in time
ranging from 1 being bag to 10 being great. I was also able to type in a description about how I
was feeling and explain why I chose the number I did. After a certain amount of time, there
were graphs to show trends in the moods I had been feeling. Mood panda worked for a little
while, but it did not give good charting of the overall picture. I decided to switch over to My
Happiness Tracker so I could get better charts and graphs on my happiness levels. The
Happiness Tracker would send out a survey whenever wanted throughout the day. There
would be multiples of questions portraying to how I felt at that point in time. It would also ask
questions about who I was with and even how I slept the night before. I set My Happiness
Tracker to send me a survey everyday in the morning because that is when my day is either the
best or the worst. For some reason, my mornings can be joyful or unfortunately filled with
exhausting emotions because of how I felt being away from home at college. That was very
obvious in the graphs produced by My Happiness Tracker. Being on Facebook before starting
this project would sometimes make me frustrated without me even recognizing it. I would find

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myself closing out the app because I was tired of hearing about the numerous problems or even
exciting events listed on my news feed. However, I would always find myself opening the app
back up to continue scrolling. For some reason, I was so glued to Facebook. I didnt get very
many positive emotions from it, but instead I received negative ones. There were times,
although, where I would get on Facebook to check important events such as when my brother
and his Fiancs engagements pictures were posted, when my boyfriend made it to the next
round of his football playoffs, and when different events were taking place in my family.
Facebook is a hard thing to escape. I can attest to that. It was very difficult at times and I still
would find myself pulling up on my computer to just glance at it. I didnt feel very bad knowing
that I was trying to limit my social media use because when Lent comes around, I often hear
many stories about people giving up Facebook because it isnt bringing any positive emotions
into their life. In the same way, I have also seen where some families give up Facebook because
it is taking time away from them that they could be spending with their children and/or spouse.
Facebook is becoming an epidemic in many circumstances happiness being one of the victims.

The first day of my happiness project I was on Facebook one time. I have to admit I was
surprised with myself. I noticed that when I got onto Facebook, it was because I was bored and
felt like I had nothing else to do (when in fact I had plenty to do). That became a trend for me.
Every time I would find myself feeling bored I would be tempted to get on Facebook. To no
surprise, I was tempted every day to catch up on the latest Facebook news. One day in
particular, Tuesday November 4th, I was extremely tempted to use Facebook. Throughout the
week there are always a couple days where I miss home a whole lot or I just feel a little lonelier

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than the others. That Tuesday was definitely one of those days. I got on Facebook four times
that day. Now that may not be a lot considering each time was at most for 10 minutes, but it
was certainly not what I was wanting in the final results. I wish I could say that being on
Facebook those four times was worth it and made me feel better, but instead, I felt exactly the
same as before if not worse. Getting on Facebook just left me feeling guilty and disappointed
because I knew that I shouldnt be logged on. The only thing getting on Facebook did for me
was distract me from my homework or class for a little while. It didnt distract me from life and
my feelings. Every time I got onto Facebook that day I knew I shouldnt do it; however, I did it
anyways.
Every day that I was conducting the project, I unfortunately found myself on Facebook
once a day every day. It is so frustrating to me, now that the project is over, that I couldnt
force myself to stay off. I didnt get the true experience of completely not using Facebook as I
hoped to. I was hoping that I would have been able to fight off the urge to use Facebook more
than what I did, but unfortunately, I couldnt do so. The times that were spent on Facebook
changed throughout the week. The first week of the project, every morning after I was ready
for the day and waiting for my classes to start I would check my Facebook. The second week, I
noticed that I found other things to do besides Facebook like check my email and sometimes
Pinterest. It wasnt until later in the day after my classes in the second week that I found
myself getting on Facebook. Later in the day were the times I wouldnt have as much to do,
and I would be easier distracted. I cant say that either time really made a bigger impact than
the other in a sense of more happiness. As a matter of fact, not being on Facebook didnt really
change my happiness. I was expecting at least a little change in my happiness because of how

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much I use Facebook. I came to realize that my unhappiness was the result of other issues in
my life all spilling into one mixing pot. I knew that before my project, but I was reassured of it
once I began the project.
I did find some senses of happiness from my alternative app that I placed in the spot of
where my Facebook app normally was. It was called Daughter of the King. It is an app that
sends out a different devotional every day in the morning. Waking up and reading the different
devotionals really helped my cause. It was actually quite a God thing because almost every day
reflected how I had been feeling in some way. It was a great refresher that was very much
needed. When I woke up in the mornings, I felt little tinges of happiness instead of the normal
weepiness. I also had moments where I would just feel happy. I knew that God had my back
and everything would work out in his plan. This verse stood out to me while I was doing my
devotional on one particular day, He that handles a matter wisely shall find good: and whoever
trusts in the LORD, happy is he. Proverbs 16:20.And what do you know, everything began
falling into place. My decisions became clear to me and I was much more at ease.
The goal of my project was to find happiness from not using Facebook; however, more
happiness was found from my new devotional app rather than the decrease of Facebook usage.
I am still using the devotional app even after the project has ended and I plant to continue to.
Without this project, I wouldnt have found the app, and I wouldnt have gotten the
opportunity to closer my relationship with God. What a pleasant surprise!
So now what? Now, I grow on my results, and I run with it. What better time than now
to go and use this opportunity that Ive been given to apply this material to my life. Facebook is

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merely a distraction to my life (and a good one at that), and my devotional is a source that
could be a new staple to my life as times continue on. Why not take advantage of new
information and apply it when it is given so freely to us, eh?
There are multiple areas that can be distracting in our lives and take our focus away
from our own happiness. Aside from Facebook, there are numerous other forms of
distractions. For example, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and just plain ole television are large
distractions in everyday life. Those different forms of media are impacting the way we see
different parts of life as well as the way we see other people. A credible source that I found by
Marsha L. Richins from the Louisiana State University said, Numerous studies of social realism
have shown that television presents an unrealistic picture of many aspects of American life. For
instance, more crime is shown on television than the average individual can expect to
encounter in a lifetime, and older people appear on television dis-proportionately less than
they exist in the population. This quotation just goes to show that even the TV shows we
watch are effecting how we think. Thoughts can be so easily manipulated that happiness can
also be changed in an instant. While I used Facebook for my project, there are obviously a vast
amount of other areas where the focus of the study could be placed.
Doing this project has really helped me to realize that the things that are claimed to
bring us happiness often dont. Quite the opposite actually. As talked about in the previous
paragraphs, I found that not using Facebook didnt make me any happier nor unhappier; my
emotions stayed genuinely the same. With the occasional fluctuations of my happiness, it
wasnt until that I became more connected with God that I began to find more happiness. Now,
this isnt the way it will be for everyone. Some people dont have to same desires I do nor do I

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have the same as others. What causes happiness is unique for everyone. That is what makes it
special. It is important for people to realize that everyone has a different way of finding their
happy. I learned that. I was expecting to feel happier because I cut back on my Facebook
usage, but that wasnt the right path for me. It most definitely could work for someone else,
but it takes searching to find the right fit. Do your own test and find what is best for you and
once you do, you will love your results.
Doing a project like this can lead to great things. It can open doors to you that you
never thought of before, like my devotional, and can challenge you to really realize where you
are spending too much or too little of your time. This project really showed me how attached I
was to Facebook and how unattached I was to God. Perhaps I knew that all along, but it took
doing this project for me to realize that. Anyone can do a project like this because you can
make it as simple or complicated as needed. It could be alternatives such as giving up sugar for
a month or as big as quitting smoking to make a lifestyle change. It is flexible to any situation
which makes it a perfect project to use to become steps closer every day to finding happiness.
I learned so much from this project. I learned more about myself, about my family, and
in general more about my life. If I would do anything differently, I would change the project I
did entirely to something more impacting to my life. Yes, social media plays a big part in my
everyday life, but I didnt get the results I was hoping for. Instead of focusing on Facebook and
social media, I wish I would have put my focus on reading the bible. Seeing how the devotional
alone impacted my life really made me wonder what would have happened if I would have read
my bible every day for two weeks and spent more time alone with Jesus. I can almost
guarantee that I would have found myself more and more happy as the days went by. I would

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also change the way happiness is recorded in the week prior to the project as well as during the
project. It is difficult for anyone to define their happiness without a definite key or legend. I
would change it so that instead of listing the different statistics provided by the different
websites or survey sheets, to simply stating in plain sight how it truly is so it is easily understood
for everyone. I understand there are some days that feel absolutely miserable and are as ugly
as can be, but those are the days that need to be seen so others can relate and feel comforted
by others who feel similar to them. Since this project is easily changed, anything can be done to
it to make it some happiness can be achieved in some way, even if that means trying five
different tests. Be creative! As Aristotle put it, Happiness depends on ourselves. So go out
there and do something for you. Make yourself happy. Itll be worth it in the end.

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Works Cited
"Aristotle." Pursuit of Happiness. N.p., 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
"Bible Verses About Happiness." God Vine. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.
Diener, Ed. "Understanding Scores on the Satisfaction with Life Scale." Ed Diener: Joseph R.
Smiley Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology. Senior Scientist for the Gallup
Organization. U of Illinois at Urbandale-Champaign. 13, Feb. 2006. PDF. 17 Nov. 2014.
Holmberg, Lena. Seeking Social Connectedness Online and Offline: Does Happiness Require Real
Contact?" Social Connectedness Online and Offline: Does Happiness Require Real
Contact? N.p., 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want. New
York: Penguin, 2008. Print.
Marche, Stephen. "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" Is Facebook Making Us Lonely? (2014): n.
pag. 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Marsha L. Richins (1987),"Media, Materialism, and Human Happiness", in NA - Advances in
Consumer Research Volume 14, eds. Melanie Wallendorf and Paul Anderson, Provo, UT :
Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 352-356. Web. 07 Oct. 2014.
Sigchi. "The Nature of Emotional Expression in Social Media: Measurement, Inference and
Utility." SIGCHI Conference Paper Format (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.munmund.net/pubs/hcic_12.pdf>.