Posted on Saturday, February 19 2011 @ 9:00 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
A study by psychologists from Edinburgh Napier University has linked the number of Facebook friends you have to higher stress levels and anxiety when using the site:
In fact, the study concluded that, for a significant number of Facebook users, the negative effects of the website even outweigh the positive benefits of staying in touch with friends and family.
The lead researcher for the study - Dr Kathy Charles - also points out that the study threw up a number of paradoxes, such as the fact that there is ‘great pressure to be on Facebook but for most, only very modest or tenuous rewards.’
The study also likens Facebook to gambling, saying that ‘like gambling, Facebook keeps users in a neurotic limbo, not knowing whether they should hang on in there just in case they miss out on something good.’ This, says the report, leaves users of the site feeling ‘anxious about withdrawing from the site for fear of missing important social information or offending contacts’.
More info
at Bit Tech.
