Study: Social Networks Have Negative Effect On Individual Welfare

An anonymous reader writes: A study of 50,000 people in Italy has found the impact of social networking on individual welfare to be "significantly negative." The researchers found that improvements in self-reported well-being occurred when online networking led to face-to-face interactions, but this effect was overwhelmed by the perceived losses in well-being (PDF) generated by interaction strictly through social networks. The researchers "highlight the role of discrimination and hate speech on social media which they say play a significant role in trust and well-being. Better moderation could significantly improve the well-being of the people who use social networks, they conclude."

Comments

Re:Interesting

[ShanghaiBill]

Seeing other people happy could potentially adversely effect someone that is clinically depressed .

This is the exact opposite of what the researchers concluded: That people are adversely affected by seeing other people that are angry and hateful.

Re:/. Is ostensibly a social network.

[BenSchuarmer]

slashdot is more of an anti-social network.