I never was very active on facebook/twitter/instagram etc. Now that I'm feeling more down because I realized I'm short I spend even less time on there that's about it.
Social media is a facade so it's unlikely that anyone will give off signs of depression, this goes for everyday life as well one of the happiest girls I knew turned out to be very depressed I ran into her borrowing self-help books in the library. Suprisingly many of the overtly social people harbor insecureties.
The best ways to notice this is to pay attention to what people talk about. That girl always spoke about things that made her feel bad, another one of my friends speak alot about famous writers,scientists, philosophers and such -now what does that tell you?
I catch myself doing this: when I walked through downtown Stockholm with my dad I commented on how tall everyone was without thinking.
Same, im not active in terms of posting with status updates, photos etc. But i am online a lot on facebook to chat and to keep in touch with friends etc, also it has some fun and useful stuff like setting up events and inviting etc. I dont use instagram or Twitter however.
I agree that people usually want to depict their lives as awesome on social media regardless how it actually might be, so its unlikely for people to show that they are sad. However ive noticed some people do it because they want the attention i think. For example i would never share it online if something bad happened to one of my family members, but i know plenty of people who have done that.
In Sweden, men are conditioned to keep their troubles to themselves, but women tend to talk alot about it, but i guess not openly, only to their closest ones.
I tend to be online more when i am depressed, because im usually depressed about not being satisfied with my social life, so facebook makes me feel slightly more social compared to just being home and doing other stuff i guess.
I agree that depressed people sometimes tend to over compensate by being more extroverted and social. Talk alot etc. I have done that as well on occassion. I guess because we really dont want anyone to know that we are sad.
Btw if that girl spoke about things that made her feel bad all the time, then was it really that much of a surprise that she was depressed? How did she behave in general that made you think she was very happy?
And about your other friend, actually that doesnt tell me much, there are many reasons why one would talk alot about those things wouldnt you say? It wouldnt make me automatically think he was depressed at least.
One thing i tended to do without thinking it through which is similar to your problem, is that if i see a really tall person or if i talk to a really tall person, i always used to compliment their height. Now i never do it anymore but i always think about it.