Posting on Facebook is an easy way to connect with people, but it also can be a means to alienate them. That can be particularly troublesome for those with low self-esteem.

People with poor self-image tend to view the glass as half empty. They complain a bit more than everyone else, and they often share their negative views and feelings when face to face with friends and acquaintances.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, wondered whether those behavior patterns would hold true online. They published their findings in the journal Psychological Science.

"People with low self-esteem tend to be very cautious and self-protective," says one of the researchers, psychologist Amanda L. Forest. "It's very important to them to gain others' acceptance and approval. ... So given that, we thought people with low self-esteem might censor what they're saying to present a kind of positive and likable self-image on Facebook."

She and fellow psychologist Joanne V. Wood collected the 10 most recent status updates from 177 undergraduate volunteers who had completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. A team of objective "readers" then rated the updates based on how positive or negative they were.

People with low self-esteem posted far more negative updates than those with high self-esteem. Forest says they described a host of unhappy sentiments, from seemingly minor things like having a terrible day or being frustrated with class schedules to more extreme feelings of rage and sorrow.

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