Every day, over one billion people log on to Facebook. Every second, around five new profiles are created. Despite its popularity, many studies have linked increased Facebook use with reduced well-being, happiness, self-esteem and life satisfaction. However, the nature of this relationship remains unclear: does using Facebook actually increase negative feelings, or are people who are depressed more likely to spend a lot of time on Facebook?
Two studies conducted in February and March 2015 found that Facebook can affect mood, but whether this effect is positive or negative depends on how it is used. For example, people were more likely to experience symptoms of depression if using Facebook made them feel jealous of others, but people who used Facebook mainly for social connection experienced fewer depressive symptoms.
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A similar study in Belgium also showed that the way people use social media determines how it affects mood. Passive Facebook use, like scrolling through news feeds and timelines, is more likely to induce feelings of envy and thus reduce well-being, while active Facebook use, through commenting, sharing and posting, does not have these effects.
The people with whom you interact online also plays a role in how Facebook affects mental health. People tend to feel positive emotions when reading posts from someone they are close to because “empathy is more pronounced when the relationship is closer, so one is more likely to ‘catch’ the happiness of a close friend than a casual acquaintance,” says Ruoyun Lin, a researcher in Germany.
While Facebook can influence your mood and happiness level, you can take steps to ensure that it does so positively and not negatively. When you use Facebook, limit the time you spend passively reading through your news feed, and engage with the site actively by sharing cool news stories, posting funny pictures, or wishing your friends happy birthday. According to Edson C. Tandoc Jr., one of the researchers who studied the effects of Facebook on mood, “It is not technology such as Facebook that affects our feelings per se but rather how we use it.”
