Life expectancy and... Facebook
Social media activity is linked to longevity
Scientists from the University of California, San Diego conducted a study that showed a link between the activity of Facebook users and their life expectancy. It turned out that the more people use the social network, the less they risk dying.
Scientists conducted a study in California. They collected data on registered voters in the state and with the help of Facebook found those of them who have an account in the social network. The State Health Department also helped with the data.
In total, scientists collected data on more than four million Californians who were born from 1945 to 1989. Scientists compared those who used Facebook with those who did not have an account, and also analyzed exactly how people use the social network – whether they post photos, how often they add friends, how actively they exchange messages, how many likes they collect.
It turned out that among those who did not get an account, the mortality rate is on average 12% higher than that of network users. The results of comparing users with each other were as follows: the mortality rate is lowest among those who post photos with themselves more often and accept friendship requests more often. Those who send requests themselves more often than others live less according to statistics. Messaging is also associated with mortality, but not linearly: the best rates are for those who correspond with an average intensity, and the highest mortality is for those who correspond little or very much. And finally, the husky scientists did not see any connection between mortality and their number.
Scientists suggest that social media activity reduces mortality, like any other form of social activity – studies that proved that the more friends, the longer life, appeared more than thirty years ago. In this regard, the results of the analysis of photographs are interesting: low mortality was among those who were marked in the photos, that is, those who actively interacted with people offline. In addition, scientists have suggested that high activity in social networks is associated with a higher standard of living compared to those who do not use them. It is also possible that an active user of social networks is more likely to find help and support, which also ultimately reduces the risk of death.
On the other hand, scientists do not draw unambiguous conclusions and say that it is worth being careful with causal relationships. It is possible that users with good health live a more active social life, and this is also noticeable by their activity in social networks.
An article with the results of the study was published in the journal PNAS (Hobbs et al., Online social integration is associated with reduced mortality risk).
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09.11.2016