Taking a break from Facebook makes people happy: Danish study
24 Dec 2016
A Danish study has found that regular users who took a week-long break from Facebook reported increased wellbeing.
In the one-week trial, Facebook users were asked to either give up using the site for a week, or go on using it usual.
They were then asked about their emotions and life satisfaction both before and after they quit Facebook.
Researchers also analysed the effect of quitting on both heavier and lighter Facebook users.
According to the study, heavy Facebook users reported a greater increase in satisfaction with their life after they were off it for a week, as against with less heavy users.
According to the author of the study, Facebook use might induce feelings of envy and dissatisfaction because users compared themselves with others when scrolling through posts and photos – a practice known as "lurking".
The experiment, conducted by the University of Copenhagen involved 1,095 people.
''Millions of hours are spent on Facebook each day,'' wrote report author Morten Tromholt.
''We are surely better connected now than ever before, but is this new connectedness doing any good to our well-being?
''According to the present study, the answer is 'no'. In fact, the predominant uses of Facebook – that is, as a means to communicate and gain information about others, as habitual pastime – are affecting our well-being negatively on several dimensions.''
The sample comprised 86 per cent female, spread across Denmark, 34 years of age and with an average Facebook-friends count of 350.
The cohort was asked to take a 15-minute pre-test which then randomly assigned them to either the treatment group, who were banned from Facebook for seven days, or the control group, who were asked to continue using it as usual.
In the post-test on the last day of the experiment, which 888 participants completed, 13 per cent of the treatment group admitted to having used Facebook during the study.
According to the majority of the ''non-compliers'', it was either because of an emergency or was a ''habitual accident''.
(Also see: Feeling blue? Taking a break from Facebook might help)