The benefits and dangers of social networks

If you keep up with the times, then, spend on Facebook more this time than on any other website, even on your private e-mail. About 1.3 billion people actively use the social network on Twitter sent daily to 500 million tweets, and Instagram has already hosted more than 20 billion photos, according to statistics from Digital Insights. So is it any wonder that countless hours spent in the Internet reality will affect your body and mind? This influence is not necessarily negative, but he has an unhealthy side. We will cover all the non-obvious pros and cons of social networks.

They brighten up your loneliness

Active participation in online communication may be the key to a pleasant pastime on the Internet. In a study published in the journal Social Influence, participants were divided into two groups: one chatted on Facebook as usual, others were “Lucerne”, that is, passive observers, viewing the pages and discussions, but not participating in them. This experiment showed that after 48 hours of this “silence” users noted the emergence of feelings of loneliness and low self-esteem.

Similarly, a study by Carnegie Mellon University found that people who used all the tools of communication on Facebook, including writing their own posts, comments to photos of friends and “likes” are less likely to suffer from feelings of loneliness.

They can save you in an emergency

When your region is facing a dangerous natural phenomenon, communication in Facebook and Twitter can greatly come in handy. In collaboration with the Centers for prevention and disease control Medical University of Vienna analyzed the consequences of several dozen tornadoes swept through the South-Eastern part of the United States in 2011.

The researchers found that people who used Twitter and Facebook during these emergencies, rarely got injured. The direction of movement of a tornado can be predicted only for a very limited time forward.

They can cause envy

If you ever feel like throat looms paws “green-eyed monster” of envy when viewing Facebook photos of friends tropical travel, you are not alone. German scientists have even given this phenomenon a name — “spiral of self-promotion and envy.”

They can affect your perception of your own body

Sitting on Facebook may not the best way to affect confidence in their own attractiveness. Scientists from Ohio state University, the University of Iowa and University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) found that the more time women spend on Facebook, the worse they think about their own body and more likely to compare themselves with the look of a friend on this social network. In addition, this study found that the more Facebook women who dream to lose weight, the more attention they pay to it appearance.

They can help you quit Smoking

To stop Smoking can be a difficult enterprise, requiring a huge support from loved ones. Social networks can fill the missing motivation for those who have decided to leave this bad habit. A study published in the Journal of Communication indicates that people are seeking moral support in social networks, it is easier to get rid of tobacco dependence.

They can force you to think outside the box

Army of fans Lady Gaga has over 41 million Twitter users. Researchers from the University of Missouri in Columbia watching the followers of Lady Gaga on Twitter and found out that the star is constantly pushing their online friends to be generous to each other. As a result, its subscribers have increased emotional support in his circle. Sharing information about themselves on social networks, Lady Gaga has managed to create a friendly atmosphere among his “followers”, which calls for tolerance on the example of her openness to all different. Some of her followers even noted that the star has inspired them to fight and live on when they were on the verge of despair.

They can help to identify the disease

When Mama from Tennessee uploaded on Facebook a photo of his daughter Riley, two of her friends hurried to tell her that one eye girl was much more yellow than the other. After a call to the pediatrician and ophthalmologist at Riley was diagnosed coats disease, a disease that can cause vision impairment and even blindness. Thanks friends of Facebook the disease Riley was spotted at an early stage, and her vision was saved.

Image credit: geralt

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