A new study suggests that being active on Facebook is associated with living longer.
As people become more conscious of their online identities — and the time spent on social networks is increasing — interest in the effects of social media on people's health has started gaining traction.
The study was carried out on 12 million Facebook users. The researchers stated that the nature of the findings isn't a correlation but an association, so there is no cause-and-effect proven.
The broad association focuses on maintaining social circles in the real world, as well as being active on social media — but only as a complement to offline interactions.
The study was led by University of California San Diego researchers. William Hobbs and James Fowler, lead authors of the research, collaborated with teams at Facebook and Yale. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences.
What the study aims to prove is that people who enhance and maintain social interactions for a long time are more likely to live longer than those who don't.
However, keeping social media networks is just part of this interaction phenomenon, adding an important piece to the puzzle: online activity.
For the first time, a study correlates online behavior with keeping real-life social circles, and it turns out the findings are consistent to support other social studies.
According to the research, people who accept more friendships in their life tend to have a lower risk of mortality; however, there is no relation proven concerning people who initiate friendships.
"Mortality risk is lowest for those with high levels of offline social interaction and moderate levels of online social interaction," explains the study.
The results point toward a generally lower risk of developing an array of health issues for people who use social media moderately. While the study is an associative one, it could also become a pillar in investigating the way online social networks have transformed people, physically, emotionally and socially.
The study analyzed the behavior of people who have a Facebook account versus those who don't. Among the latter, the lowest mortality rate is observed in people who have an expanded social circle: they tend to be healthier and live longer.
"Interacting online seems to be healthy when the online activity is moderate and complements interactions offline," noted Hobbs, a postdoctoral fellow at Northeastern University.
With their study, the researchers also promote moderation when it comes to using social media. Having a real-life circle of friends and control over the time spent on the social network could empower users to be more active offline as well.
