Common social networking sites affect mood

Social networking sites are a platform for people to keep in touch with family and friends, but a U.S. study shows that the longer people use social networking sites, the worse their mood will be.

The research report was published in the "Science Public Library Comprehensive Volume" magazine published on the 14th.

Choose college students to experiment

Researchers at the University of Michigan recruited 82 university student volunteers for this study. Researchers say that college students are chosen because they use social networking sites more frequently.

The researchers monitored the college students’ social network usage and sent them text messages from time to time five times a day asking them to answer questions such as: how they feel now, whether they are anxious, whether they are alone, or whether they are using social networking sites “Facebook”. Is it face to face with other people?

This method of investigation is called “empirical sampling method” and it is a reliable way to get acquainted with the people’s thinking, feelings and actions in daily life.

Researchers also asked the respondents' satisfaction with their lives at the beginning and the end of the survey. The survey lasted two weeks.

"Facebook" can not increase happiness

The survey results show that the more college students use social networking sites, the more unhappy they feel and the more obvious their satisfaction with life declines. In contrast, using a webcam to chat with friends or meet people in real life makes them happier, and even the frequency of laughter increases by 50%.

Ethan Cross, head of research, said that the survey results reflect how the Internet affects people's lives. The British "Daily Mail" quoted him as saying on the 14th: "On the surface, 'Facebook' provides invaluable resources to meet people's basic social needs. But we found that 'Facebook' does not promote people's. Happiness, on the contrary, will weaken this feeling."

There is currently no evidence that people use social networking sites more often when they are unhappy. Cross said that loneliness and social networking sites are two factors that affect happiness independently. "People don't use Facebook because of their bad mood or loneliness."

Bernie Hogan, Ph.D., of the University of Oxford’s Institute of International Internet Research, said that when people use social networking sites, they often communicate with many people at the same time. Sometimes they “disregard each other” and inadvertently let someone down. This may be one of the reasons for the disharmony of these couples.