A team of sociologists from the University of California, San Diego has compared the activity of 12 million users on Facebook with the records of the Department of Public Health of that state and has concluded that interacting regularly on that website is it is related to a longer life expectancy and a lower risk of mortality.
Scientists have long known the link between rich and varied social relationships and better health, but this is the first time that the same thing happens when friends keep in touch through social media.
William Hobbs, one of the authors of the work, adds an important nuance to the results: “Connecting online seems healthy when done moderately and complements face-to-face encounters. But it can be harmful if we spend too much time connected and away from real life “.
The investigation analyzed the activity on Facebook for six months of living people and others already deceased. All individuals studied were born between 1945 and 1989, and comparisons were made between subjects of the same sex and similar ages. The first conclusion was that those who are on Facebook live longer than those who are not. In one year, the average user of this social network is 12% less likely to die than those who do not use it, although socioeconomic status also influences.
Sociologists analyzed the number of friends, status updates, photos uploaded, messages sent, and time spent on Facebook, and found that people with medium or large social networks live longer than those with smaller networks, a result. extrapolated to the analog world of flesh and blood.
In addition, those who accepted almost all the friend requests were those who lived the longest, a relationship that did not occur among those who sent the greatest number of requests. According to the researchers, there could be a link between being popular on Facebook, having greater emotional and physical well-being, and being older.
