Facebook is Making You Crazy, Study Finds

As if having to mind your crops on CastleVille, fight about politics with your older relatives and the high school friends you had that stayed in town and deal with those endlessly popping up little red notification flags isn’t enough, it seems Facebook might actually take a bit of a toll on your mental health- if a new study’s conclusions are correct.

For a long time there have been rumblings about a top set-point of friends any human can maintain in relation to social networks (Dunbar’s number, which is set at round about 150) as well as whether people are constantly made to feel badly about their lives by the constant Facebook bragging of others. But there’s more, and MSNBC has gathered all the recent studies into one handy little article for you to skim and feel stressed about between reading about your high school tormentor’s dream wedding on Facebook and getting an update from your ex from a resort in Tahiti.

Basically, what it boils down to is the tendency of people to either share negative or positive information on the site- you know the dynamic, the friends who are massive braggarts or tragedy queens. Not only do we react to these types of information in different ways, but doctoral student Mudra Mukesh worked on the research at a university in Spain, and says the number of people bombarding us with good news could be part of the problem:

“At the end of the day, have more friends, there’s no problem with that. Just be sure to remember that when you start feeling crappy about your life, think about the fact that you have a large number of friends and that increases your probability of viewing more ostentatious information. So, it’s not you, it’s them.”

Mukesh pointed to the initial high feeling when adding lots of friends which enhances a feeling of connectivity, juxtaposed with the torrent of positive update from friends who are doing or appear to be doing well. Does Facebook bragging make you feel badly about your life, and have you noticed that trending up the more friends you add?

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Tags: Facebook, Mental Health, Social Media, Status Updates

About the Author

Kim LaCapria Kim LaCapria is a writer and editor based in New York. A longtime information junkie, she began blogging full-time at the Inquisitr in 2009. Prior to that, she worked as a marketing assistant in the cosmetics and skincare industry. In addition to her writing for fortytwotimes, she also writes for Medacity and The Inquisitr. Kim is also a contributor for SocialNewsDaily, Indyposted, and TotallyMoney. In the past, she contributed to Lipstick and Luxury and managed social media accounts and blogs for several small and mid-sized businesses.