February 2011
Featured in this insight: IT & telecommunications
Research report shows Facebook can be more stressful than beneficial: A market research report released today by psychologists from Edinburgh Napier University has demonstrated that people with alot of Facebook friends are more likely to feel anxious or stressed about using the social networking website.
The research concluded that for a significant number of Facebook users, the negative effects of the website actually outweigh the positive benefits of staying in touch with friends and family.
Dr Kathy Charles, the lead researcher for the study, said that there is “great pressure to be on Facebook but for most, only very modest or tenuous rewards.”
The study also discovered that many users found the pressure to be inventive and entertaining with their comments and status updates stressful.
Results of the research saw the effects of Facebook as similar to gambling. The report stated 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.’ Users feel ‘anxious about withdrawing from the site for fear of missing important social information or offending contacts’.
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