Facebook Boosts Your Self-Esteem

An anonymous reader writes "Using Facebook can increase your self-esteem, according to a new study from Cornell University researchers, published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. Researchers Amy Gonzales and Jeffrey Hancock conducted the experiment with three groups of 21 students each in the university's Social Media Lab. The first one was the control group, which sat in front of blank computer screens for three minutes. The second group of individuals had mirrors propped up against their computer monitors and spent their three minutes looking at their own reflections. The third group was allowed to surf their own Facebook profiles and its associated tabs for the allotted time. At the end, all three groups were given a self-esteem questionnaire."

Comments

Do something. Feel better.

[michaelwv]

Doing something remotely productive increases your self-esteem.

I don't use Facebook

[tsa]

I don't use Facebook. Obviously my self-esteem can not be boosted any higher.

Re:Doing something increases your self-esteem

[RazzleFrog]

Yeah this is a pretty unscientific study. Disappointing from Cornell.

Flawed methodology

[Locke2005]

Of course those forced to stare at a blank screen had lower self esteem... they were thinking "Why the hell did I volunteer for this assinine study???" the whole time!

Re:I use LinkedIn instead

[Anonymous Coward]

Your definition of "friend" is tragic.