Facebook: Social networks harm the mental health of users

Facebook has for the first time publicly acknowledged that its use could be harmful to the health of its users. And his advice is simple: the cure for bad Facebook is the best Facebook.

Researchers on the largest social networking site have admitted in a post on a corporate blog that there are independent studies that suggest that spending time on Facebook "passively consuming information" can "make people feel worse" mentally and physically.

The antidote, according to Facebook executives led by research director David Ginsberg, is to interact more actively with other users, instead of remaining a passive spectator, making negative comparisons with the lives of others and staying away from interpersonal contact. They also stressed that the relevant studies have mixed findings and show that Facebook can also have a positive effect on a user's psychology.

"In short, our own research and that of other scientists shows that in order to influence one's mental state, what matters is how one uses social media. "What we want is for people to spend time on Facebook encouraging meaningful social interactions," said Ginsberg and other Facebook researchers.