Facebook makes people depressed
Posted: 16 Aug 2013, 09:40
Finally scientific proof showing that facebook actually rots your brain. I've been saying it for years:
According to a new study, conducted on 82 young people, spending time on Facebook can make one feel depressed. Participants in the study found that the more they used Facebook, the more unhappy they were and vice versa, the more time they spent with their friends on phone or meeting them in person made them feel better and happier.
Dr Ethan Kross, of the University of Michigan, said that findings showed how Internet affects its users. He said that Facebook provides invaluable source for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection, but it is only on surface, as use of Facebook gives the opposite result – it undermines the need.
Young people participating in the study answered five questions asked in different times during day via text messages. The technique used, “experience sampling”, is a recognised way of measuring how people feel, think and behave in their day-to-day lives. The participants answered questions on how they were feeling at the moment, were they lonely and if yes, how lonely they were, and also to what extent they had been using Facebook or interacting directly with other people.
Researchers said that study results showed that higher levels of Facebook use correlated with greater loss of well-being.
The study lasted two weeks with each participant. Participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with life at the beginning of the study and at the end. The results showed that the satisfaction declined as the use of Facebook increased.
Dr John Jonides, neuroscientist at University of Michigan, said that this result is of crucial importance as it shows the influence that social networks have on people’s lives.
The study could not confirm that people were more likely to log into Facebook when they felt bad, so a new research is planned to take a look at the psychological reasons for negative effect of Facebook on well-being.
According to a new study, conducted on 82 young people, spending time on Facebook can make one feel depressed. Participants in the study found that the more they used Facebook, the more unhappy they were and vice versa, the more time they spent with their friends on phone or meeting them in person made them feel better and happier.
Dr Ethan Kross, of the University of Michigan, said that findings showed how Internet affects its users. He said that Facebook provides invaluable source for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection, but it is only on surface, as use of Facebook gives the opposite result – it undermines the need.
Young people participating in the study answered five questions asked in different times during day via text messages. The technique used, “experience sampling”, is a recognised way of measuring how people feel, think and behave in their day-to-day lives. The participants answered questions on how they were feeling at the moment, were they lonely and if yes, how lonely they were, and also to what extent they had been using Facebook or interacting directly with other people.
Researchers said that study results showed that higher levels of Facebook use correlated with greater loss of well-being.
The study lasted two weeks with each participant. Participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with life at the beginning of the study and at the end. The results showed that the satisfaction declined as the use of Facebook increased.
Dr John Jonides, neuroscientist at University of Michigan, said that this result is of crucial importance as it shows the influence that social networks have on people’s lives.
The study could not confirm that people were more likely to log into Facebook when they felt bad, so a new research is planned to take a look at the psychological reasons for negative effect of Facebook on well-being.
