Could your Facebook friends be stressing you out?? Show Notes

Monday, December 03, 2012 Host(s): Dr. Bill Maier
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Could your Facebook friends be stressing you out?   Maybe so. 
 
According to a new study, the more Facebook friends you have, the more stressed you may be.

CBS News reports on a new study done at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.  It indicates that you if have a large variety of friends on Facebook, you may feel more anxious. 

The researchers say that stress can increase when a person participates in behavior that may not be approved by their peers on Facebook, such as swearing, recklessness, drinking and smoking.

The situation may be exacerbated by the growing number of people joining Facebook. Back in the early days, members mainly consisted of college students.  But now, folks of a wide variety of ages and background are on the social networking site. 

Ben Marder, a fellow at The University of Edinburgh and the author of the report, says "Facebook used to be like a great party for all your friends where you could dance, drink and flirt. But now with your Mum, Dad and boss there the party becomes an anxious event full of potential social landmines,”

You know, that makes perfect sense.  If posting about activities that some might consider immoral or inappropriate, you might not want your supervisor or your Mom reading all about it.

By the way, Facebook's minimum age limit is currently 13-years old. In August, the social network reported its oldest user was a 101-year-old woman.  Average users can fall anywhere in that spectrum.

You can find more information about the study on the University of Edinburgh's website.

I’m Bill Maier for WBCL.
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