Quitting Facebook makes people happier, shows study

London, Nov 11: You might well be addicted to it, but quitting Facebook would actually make you happy, suggests a new study done by Denmark-based think tank Happiness Research Institute.

The study, done in Denmark, enrolled 1095 volunteers (94 percent of them said they visited Facebook as part of a daily routine) and divided them into two groups.

Half of them carried on using Facebook as usual whereas the rest spent their time away from the social network.

After a week, 88 percent of those who had given up Facebook said they felt "happy", compared with 81 percent of those who had still been checking into their News Feed on a regular basis.

Those who had abstained from Facebook also reported feeling more enthusiastic, less lonely, less worried and more decisive, the study found.

They spent more time seeing family and friends face-to-face and said they found it easier to concentrate too - those are a serious set of benefits to taking some time away from the social network's apps and websites.

The researchers ascribe anxiety associated with Facebook use to envy at other people's lives as they are seen enjoying albeit in edited highlights.

"Instead of focusing on what we actually need, we have an unfortunate tendency to focus on what other people have," wrote the authors of the study.

According to Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, Facebook is a "constant bombardment of everyone else's great news".

"After a few days, I noticed my to-do list was getting done faster than normal as I spent my time more productively. I also felt a sort of calmness from not being confronted by Facebook all the time," Sophie Anne Dornoy, 35, one of the volunteers was reported as saying.

IANS