Facebook lurking ‘makes you miserable and will ruin your Christmas'

Experts have concluded that you shouldn’t sit around all day lurking on Facebook as it makes you downright miserable.

At this time of year it’s easy to get bitter and envious at happy family photos of the perfect Christmas scene but for the sake of your own happiness, it’s best to avoid indulging in it.

That seems perfectly logical advice and it’s advice backed up by a study from the University of Copenhagen, that concludes that excessive use of social media simply creates feelings of envy – especially if you’re not actually connecting with anyone.

The study of more than 1,300 people – mostly women – advised taking regular breaks from platforms like Facebook as regular use “can negatively affect your emotional well-being and satisfaction with life”.

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Boasting posts and picture perfect Christmas scenes can bring about “unrealistic social comparisons”, according to researchers.

But they added that it doesn’t always have to be like this, an actually talking to people online rather than just spying on them can promote a more positive experience.

The study, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking concluded that breaks from social media should last a week at a time.

That is a challenge in itself – where else would we get to see everyone’s decorated Christmas tree?

Top pic: Wikipedia