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Research Many Facebook friends increase life expectancy
Can it actually make a difference to our life expectancy if we have more friends on Facebook? Researchers have now found that people who accept all their Facebook friend requests and many Facebook friends have an increased life expectancy.
Researchers from Northeastern University and the University of California, San Diego found in an investigation that accepting many friend requests on Facebook could result in those living longer lives. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "National Academy of Science".
Some people have a lot of friends on Facebook. Experts identified a connection between friend requests and human longevity. When many people send you friend requests and you accept them, life expectancy seems to increase. (Image: Cybrain / fotolia.com)Researchers have been exploring the impact of Facebook for more than a decade
If you have a lot of friends on Facebook, it could be an asset to your life expectancy. At least if those people sent you a friend request. The authors of the study spent more than a decade studying Facebook activity and its impact on life. The results of the investigation indicate that people with many friends in so-called social media networks are less likely to die.
No health benefits from initiated friend requests
There is a connection between the health of people and their social media accounts, explains author Professor William Hobb. We found that Facebook users with accepted friend requests had a lower risk of mortality. However, there are no implications for people who initiate many friend requests, the authors add.
People need many social offline interactions and moderate online social interactions
The risk of mortality is lowest for those who have a high level of social offline interaction and in addition moderate levels of social online interaction, explain the scientists in their investigation.
Physicians examine data from twelve million Facebook users
In their study, the researchers examined the data of about twelve million Californian Facebook users. They compared this data with the records of the Department of Public Health in California from 2012 to 2013, explain the authors Professor Hobb from Northeastern University and Professor James Fowler from the University of California. Then they checked how many of the participants died within those years. The participating subjects included all genders and were born between 1945 and 1989.
Many friends on Facebook do not automatically mean a longer life
There is no obvious link between people's health and sent Facebook requests, the doctors say. One would suspect that the benefits of making friend requests work in both directions, says Professor Hobb. The benefits only apply to people who accept many friend requests. This was a disappointing finding because other people are getting more friends on Facebook, but this does not improve their health or longevity, adds the author. (As)