UPDATED 09:15 EST / MARCH 02 2015

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg NEWS

Study says “Facebook envy” can lead to depression in college students

Facebook's CEO Mark ZuckerbergA recent study published by researchers at the University of Missouri claims to have found link between “Facebook envy” and depression in college students. According to the study, many of the students surveyed showed symptoms of depression as a result of feeling envious of friends’ Facebook status updates.

“Facebook can be a fun and healthy activity if users take advantage of the site to stay connected with family and old friends and to share interesting and important aspects of their lives,” said Margaret Duffy, a professor at the University of Missouri school of Journalism and one of the lead researchers behind the study. “However, if Facebook is used to see how well an acquaintance is doing financially or how happy an old friend is in his relationship—things that cause envy among users—use of the site can lead to feelings of depression.”

The study found that the students most likely to develop depression-like symptoms were those who engaged in “surveillance use” of Facebook, meaning those who Facebook stalk their friends to keep track of their lives. Passive users of the social network, on the other hand, were less likely to show signs of depression.

“We found that if Facebook users experience envy of the activities and lifestyles of their friends on Facebook, they are much more likely to report feelings of depression,” Duffy said. “Facebook can be a very positive resource for many people, but if it is used as a way to size up one’s own accomplishments against others, it can have a negative effect. It is important for Facebook users to be aware of these risks so they can avoid this kind of behavior when using Facebook.”

While using Facebook can sometimes lead to depression for college students, working there has the opposite effect. According to the most recent “25 Highest Rated Companies for Internships” list by Glassdoor.com, Facebook Inc is currently the best company for which college students can intern.

Former Facebook interns rated the experience as a 4.6 out of 5, also saying that the overall difficulty of the internship was a respectable 3.1. Facebook’s place on the list puts it just above Chevron Corp, Google Inc, Quicken Loans, and Ebay Inc, in that order.

photo credit: Ksayer1 via photopin cc

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