The three universities have found that extensive Facebook use, which includes frequent short-period check-ups of status updates, can lead to envy of other users and eventually sadness.
The research was conducted using a sample of 736 Facebook-using students who had admitted to quietly stalking their friends.
Results showed that users who’s lives weren’t deemed as exciting as their peers go into a state of depression.
The study also found that the negative effects felt by Facebook users is not applicable to high school or college students, but users of all ages regardless of their demographics.
For some people it has come to the point of being an addiction and they just cannot stop reading more information about their Facebook friends – their lives, what they’re doing and where they went on holiday.
It is so difficult to find a happy medium with regards to social media use in the technological age that we live in, as social media is not only a platform for personal interaction anymore.
Businesses gain their clientele bases from the number of Facebook and Twitter users they interact with and the more followers they have, the more aware the public is that their business exists, thus driving sales.
It is difficult to find consolation in the constant posts of friends who may be doing better than you, so would the solution be to curb social media usage, stop usage all together or continue to envy those fabulous Facebook friends?
