Meta researchers recently found out that Facebook users are becoming lonelier in the social media space, according to an internal document.
From scratch, we know that there are a lot of things that are going on in cyberspace aside from connecting to our peers.
Facebook Causes Loneliness to People
The common notion for social media sites is their ability to connect people from all walks of life. Whether you're American, Asian, single, widowed, or anything in between, you use these apps for a typical purpose: to establish connection and communication with other individuals.
The latest study about Facebook and other social media platforms appears to be contradicting their goals. Instead of making them happier and more satisfied, they only generate loneliness among users, per Bloomberg's report.
Regarding the internal documents, the news site wrote that some of them were recently leaked by Frances Haugen, a known Facebook whistleblower. The particular study that the Meta researchers conducted has reportedly tackled the impact of the app on people's loneliness.
According to one internal study, people feel lonelier whenever they see certain types of posts in their feed.
The most common example is detachment from friends. On Facebook, you sometimes see your friend's post without you. Even so, a negative post could even bring more loneliness to the user.
On the other side, loneliness can be removed by looking at funny things or entertaining stuff on social media platforms.
The study discovered that 41% of the users favored that the app has made them feel better while only 6% said that it caused them loneliness.
Related Article: Instagram Hiding Potential Mental Health Risk Issue Addressed by Facebook
Spending An Hour on Facebook Can Make You Less Lonelier
KnowTechie, in another article, wrote that the time spent on Facebook has something to do with the intensity of loneliness. According to the research, users who feel "least lonely" tend to spend just one hour on the social media space.
The loneliness can spike if a user spends more or less than an hour on the platform. Although this emotion and social media use is correlated to one another, it's still challenging to identify the particular effect that Facebook and other sites bring in.
To note, the user experience also plays an important role in the study. Based on it, the various experiences on social media could either imply a negative or positive outcome to the lonely users.
In general, there's no recommended time limit in using social media. You can spend too much time or not based on your desire. However, it's also significant to pay attention to the post and content which might affect your emotional well-being to a huge extent.
In connection to loneliness, those people who frequently overshare Facebook posts usually feel this state, according to a 2014 study spotted by Tech Times.
In another research back in 2016, researchers concluded that using Facebook can make your life longer.
Read Also: Facebook Misinformation Generates More Clicks Than Factual News [STUDY]
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
