Social media and happiness

Everybody on social media seems to be jet-setting all over the world, swimming in crystal clear waters or doing star jumps at the top of Machu Picchu or some other exotic location.

And there you are, scrolling through your feed before bed at a reasonable hour on a Friday evening.

Social media can sometimes make your own life seem mundane and depressing.

Our friends at 'The Happiness Research Institute' in Denmark decided to study this phenomenon. They asked people what they thought a week of no social media would do for their happiness.

Most people didn’t think it would have an effect.

The Institute carried out a study of more than 1000 people to find out how social media use affects happiness.

Half of the group carried on facebook using as normal. The second group had a week off social media completely.

And the findings were conclusive - even just a week away from social media actually made people noticeably happier!

People who stayed on facebook were 55% more stressed, whilst those who stayed off facebook were 18% more likely to be present in the moment.

This, of course, is largely due to the fact that people don’t publish the bad or boring sides of their life.

This gives everyone else false sense of their reality.

Recent remarks by ex-facebook executives even suggest we are being programmed to use it the platform more and more, possibly creating a bias in our freedom of choice.

Now, we believe in moderation and balance, so we’re not telling you to go and delete all of your social media accounts, but it’s worth remembering that if you want to be happy, keep social media, and your time spent on it, to a minimum.

You can learn more about Happiness from Meik and the Happiness Research Institute by taking The Happy Course.