Facebook 'may make you miserable', says Facebook

Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) might be making us miserable, an internal study at the social media company has warned - but it all depends on how we use the site.

Analysis published by Facebook found that "in general, when people spend a lot of time passively consuming information - reading but not interacting with people - they report feeling worse afterwards".

There could be a number of reasons for this, studies have suggested.

One study, from University of California San Diego and Yale, found Facebook users who clicked on about four times as many links as the average person, or who liked twice as many posts, reported worse mental health in a survey.

Researchers have suggested this might be down to "negative social comparison", where people judge themselves unfavourably in comparison to their peers.

"Another theory is that the internet takes people away from social engagement in person," the company stated.

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"On the other hand, actively interacting with people - especially sharing messages, posts and comments with close friends and reminiscing about past interactions - is linked to improvements in well-being."

Users who interacted one-on-one with others in their network were more likely to report improvements in social support, depression and loneliness, according to a study the social media company conducted with Robert Kraut at Carnegie Mellon University.

To support this kind of use of Facebook, the company has announced a range of well-being tools allowing users to control what kind of information they're presented with.

"We want the time people spend on Facebook to encourage meaningful social interactions", said chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

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The company will demote clickbait headlines and false news, despite the high number of clicks (and thus revenue) that these generate for Facebook, "to provide more opportunities for meaningful interactions and reduce passive consumption of low-quality content".

A "snooze" option will also allow users to hide a person, page or group for 30 days without having to permanently unfollow or unfriend them.

"Millions of people break up on Facebook each week, changing their relationship status from 'in a relationship' to 'single'," the company announced.

"Research on peoples' experiences after break-ups suggests that offline and online contact, including seeing an ex-partner's activities, can make emotional recovery more difficult."

A new "take a break" option will give users control over when they see certain people on the site, what those people can see, and who can view their past posts.

"We don't have all the answers, but given the prominent role social media now plays in many people's lives, we want to help elevate the conversation," said the company.

"In the years ahead we'll be doing more to dig into these questions, share our findings and improve our products."