According to researchers from the University of California, those who check their Facebook profile more often are likely to be sad and unhealthy as compared to those who use the popular social networking site infrequently.
Researchers in the US used data from 5,208 people about their Facebook use between 2013 and 2015. The team examined the connotation of Facebook activity and real-world social network activity with self-reported physical health, mental health, life satisfaction, and body mass index.
On analysing the data, the researchers found that too much usage of Facebook was “tightly linked to compromised social, physical, and psychological health.”
“People who access the social network more often are not as happy and healthy as the rest of us who choose to use it sporadically,” said Holly Shakya, assistant professor at UCSD.
The research further explains that overuse of Facebook was negatively associated with the well-being of the user.
Even one percent increase in “likes clicked”, “links clicked,” or “status updates” was associated with a decrease of five to eight percent of self-reported mental health, researchers said.
The study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
