Slashdot Mirror
People Who Use Facebook Live Longer, Study Finds (www.cbc.ca)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC.ca: Study after study has demonstrated a link between strong social connections and reduced mortality risk. But does that hold true as our social interactions increasingly take place in online spheres? A new study out of Yale and the University of California suggests that it does. The study, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people who use Facebook live longer than those who do not, and that certain types of Facebook activities -- like posting pictures and accepting friend requests -- are associated with a lower risk of mortality. "There's a big debate about online social media. There are people that worry that worry it substitutes for healthy social interaction," co-author James Fowler, a social scientist from University of California, San Diego, told CBC News. The researchers started with 12 million Facebook profiles, then narrowed it down to four million people whose identities could be verified through California's voter registration list. Then they used data from the California Department of Public Health to compare those people to voters who don't use the social networking platform. They found the risk of dying in a given year was 12 per cent lower for Facebook users than non-Facebook users. That doesn't mean Facebook is necessarily good for you, Fowler cautions. Correlation does not prove causation, so it's impossible to say whether being on Facebook makes you healthier, or whether healthy people are more likely to be on Facebook. Still, Fowler said the study does help debunk some of the negative associations people have with social media. "The fact that we found such a strong positive relationship between health and social networks speaks against the hypothesis that they're making us unhealthy in some way," he said.
I imagine they would live a fairly long time.
Facebook is too young to do such a study reliably, unless, of course, by "people" you mean mice. A properly done study would take a group and randomly assign members to a control group (no social media) and an experimental group (mandatory social media), and then wait for people to start dying.
Or, intentionally dishonest advertisement?
Strong social connections are real-life meaningful relationships of people who are willing to help you in time of need. This is not the same thing as Facebook "friends".
look up and watch the world
What kind of shitty article is this?
Facebook hasn't been around long enough to do mortality studies on those who used it and those who didn't use it throughout their life.
But is the extra time they live sufficient to compensate for the time they've wasted on Facebook?
well, they missed the most simple connection, it's not that they use Facebook that it makes them live longer, it's that they are typically from richer countries, so more medical aid, etc, so lower mortality rates
Facebook hasn't been around long enough for any conclusive study.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Part of the reason I left facebook wasn't so much the drunken comments I may or may not regret, it was feeling so shitty seeing all the one up family photos and "my adorable kids" pics....
If hell has a physical embodiment on the earth it would be facebook for a single/forever alone person....
Gosh... I'm trying to disentangle myself from Facebook... ... in a sense I'm actually dying to leave....
Another consultant who stuck it out.
"We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx..."
If Facebook is the requirement to a longer life, I will be content with my shorter life without it.
....Study finds.
You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
Because people who eat caviar are richer and better health care. Correlation doesn't always mean a causal relationship. This kind of research is meaningless and lazy as fuck.
Only old people use Facebook.
This study is biased in that people who die young are unlikely to reach the age where thefacebook.com is the place to move your myspace activities to.
Just like Betty White, I see FB as nothing more than a majestic waste of time. I should make a will in the next 40 or so years.
Holy Shit.
I've been coming here since before the turn-of-the-century.
Whoever is responsible for this should be profoundly ashamed.
The single dumbest thing I've ever seen here.
Wow.
Years later, a doctor will tell me that I have an I.Q. of 48, and am what some people call "mentally retarded".
So, going outside less extends your life.
/. users - because living in a room in your mom's basement should be even safer!
This is good news for
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
What are they doing? Creating years of fake data to come up with this nonsense? I want to know who FUNDED that study-Facebook itself, maybe? If this crap was true, guess I won't live long because I'm not on FB, and glad of it.
If all these gender wars articles didn't kill /. then this stupid article won't either.
This too shall pass.
Those who use SlashAdvertsing fuck less.
the study was funded by Mark Zuckerberg?
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Turns out people who exist maintain their existence for longer than those who fail to exist.
It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
Really, it only feels longer.
People who use facebook have access to technology and are on average on the wealthier side of society, thus having access to better healthcare.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
I'm confident /. has posted dumber shit than this... Need i remind you of the dribble that was dished out during the Dice regime?
That being said, this is some Dice level stupid shit!!!
People who DO NOT use The Facebook live happier lives.
I agree with the fact that strong social connections is NOT generally the same as Facebook friends.
But there's so much more, I don't even know what to say about TFS. Basically, if they're looking at people who have a high chance of dying, they're looking at folks above the age of 70 or so, and these people likely didn't start using Facebook until they were in their late 60s. Automatically, somebody who is that old but active on Facebook (note TFS mentions things like "posting pictures") is probably more tech-savvy and thus probably in better mental health than lots of folks that age. (My experience with my parents and others in that age group is that many can barely figure out how to turn a computer or tablet on or off.)
And then you need to consider what active Facebook participation probably means about health in general. If you're dying of cancer and have lost your hair, or if you're wasting away due to a long-term degenerative disease making you look like a skeleton, or you have uncontrollable drooling, or whatever... are you seriously going to be posting Facebook photos? Lots of people still have some sense of pride about themselves when they get old, and they get depressed and withdrawn if they deteriorate physically enough. If they're actively posting photos on Facebook, they're probably less likely to be dying of something soon.
And then you have this nonsense:
"The fact that we found such a strong positive relationship between health and social networks speaks against the hypothesis that they're making us unhealthy in some way," he said.
Well, most of the claims about why Facebook is "unhealthy" has to do with things like (1) it takes up spare time so you're not as likely to do stuff like be active, do something better for your body or brain, etc., or (2) Facebook substitutes for more personal interactions like seeing and talking face-to-face, etc.
Except with people who are likely to die (mostly older people), they're probably sitting around in their recliners anyway for a lot of the day, so ANYTHING that gets their brain a little more active is probably better. And for those who have difficulty moving around (again, a lot of old people), this may actually be a good way for them to have both intellectual stimulation and social contact that they might have no other easy way of getting.
Or, to put it more starkly -- for an 18-year-old, Facebook might keep them isolated in a room doing no exercise or other mentally stimulating activity, which might be bad. For an 80-year-old, they're already stuck in a room and unable to do exercise or socialize, so having Facebook is BETTER than default for them.
I don't know. I'm not saying social media is evil either. But even if this study found correlations, they could mean just about anything. They certainly can't be applied to "debunk some of the negative associations people have with social media," which aren't generally about its use for geriatric social therapy.
Much like crack addicts, Facebook addicts definitely experience a more disturbing part of the world than non-Facebook/crack addicts.
Same can be said about owners of Rolex watches. So make sure you go out and buy one.
The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
lingering in cemeteries is correlated with being dead.
Wow. Glad to know that. I'll get busy posting all of my personal information to Facebook right away, and start posting updates every time that I do anything. To my friends at the N.S.A., I really appreciate you letting me know this.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Time to check out SoylentNews? Similar comment system but generally sane modding, more responsive editors, less clickbait, no ads, no commercial interest at forcing crap on you. Smaller community so far, but a better chance of having good comments noticed.
That would be Yale and the University of California.
This looks like correlation to me. Social active people have also a higher rate to use FB. Also if you are richer you might have time and money to do your FB stuff mobile. Did they release their data? No? Don't believe it. This is most likely p hacked beyond repair.
Or does it just seem that way. [c.f. stock joke, "live to be 100"]
Let's review the facts:
1) A lot more people die driving/biking/walking/taking the bus/teleporting/etc over to a friend's place than those sitting in front of a computer.
2) Using Facebook 18 hours a day dumbs down the senses to the point that nothing will give the person a heart attack.
3) Slow metabolism induced by the lack of physical exercise when using Facebook reduces the wear of the vital organs, hence longer life is a given.
Now I will follow Garry Kasparov's advice from his book "How life imitates chess". That one was about articles that explain what type of food is bad for your health, but it applies here a well:
Just wait 6 months for the next study that will prove the opposite.
"They found the risk of dying in a given year was 12 per cent lower for Facebook users than non-Facebook users."
People who are too sick to use FB die earlier than those who do.
Science is great.
Thanks for the tip.
Cheers.
Years later, a doctor will tell me that I have an I.Q. of 48, and am what some people call "mentally retarded".
Hmm I bet thr lead cientist on this study has a sizable porion of their mone invested in Facebook and just wanr ro bump up the calue of thst investment befor dumoing it, but I've been known to be very sceptic when it comes tu studies of facebook
I'm confident /. has posted dumber shit than this.../p>
Some of guest posting by WhoShallNotBeNamed was out there... but this will certainly make Top 10 list.
The reason is: procrastination. They are too lazy and/or depressed to go ahead and die.
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
Just saying'.
Select from tblFriends where interesting >= 4;
I thought the risk of mortality was 100% . . . ?
... and they continue with the shaming of introverts or people not interested in the mainstream. These are the same people that have been forcing this 'group learning' in elementary and middle school, much to the detriment of the majority of boys. 'Social Science' is nothing but rot with an agenda.
love is just extroverted narcissism
When you don't ever leave your residence you are automatically safer from happening. There is a new study forthcoming that asserts people who use Facebook frequently tend to have more problems with obesity and heart disease though. They also seem to have incoherent thoughts that when observed appear to be an intricately connected matrix of various memes many of which contain cats.
We'll make great pets
That would be Yale and the University of California.
They should study Brawndo next. It sounds like a logical next step.
We'll make great pets
How it is not gender-related? Women use Facebook more and women live longer.
Turns out, coma patients and the elderly with severe health issues don't use Facebook so much.