Like This: A Facebook Break

A Danish Happiness Research Institute study split 1,095 regular Facebook users ages 16 through 76 into two groups: Half continued to use the site; the others went cold turkey for a week.

Here’s what they found:

• 1 of 2 regular users envy others’ experiences as posted on Facebook.
• People on FB are 55% more likely to feel stressed.
• 1 of 3 regular users are jealous of how happy others seem on Facebook.

“Facebook is a constant bombardment of everyone else’s great news, but many of us look out of the window and see gray skies and rain. This makes the Facebook world, where everyone’s showing their best side, seem even more distortedly bright by contrast.”
— Meik Wiking, CEO of the Danish Happiness Research Institute