We've all had that moment of self-loathing after scrolling through our Facebook feed on a Friday night watching people drinking Champagne on a beach.
And a study published earlier this month, titled "Quitting Facebook Leads to Higher Levels of Well-Being" by the University of Copenhagen, argues that those envy-fueled scrollathons aren't doing us any favors.
Danish researcher Morten Tromholt recruited 1,095 participants and split them into two groups, one who pledged not to use Facebook for a week and a control group that logged on as usual.
Only 87% of the group who had to live without the social network made it the full week, which is probably a distressing enough finding alone. Those that did last the week reported a higher level of happiness than the control group. After seven days 88% of the group that left Facebook said they felt "happy" as opposed to 81% in the group still using it.
The study had other worrying findings: people on Facebook are 55% more likely to feel stressed, 4 out of 10 of users envy the apparent success of others, and 39% of them are more likely to feel less happy than their friends. Conversely, the group living without Facebook reported less difficulty with concentration, felt like they had wasted less of their time, and were 18% more likely to feel present in the moment.
So, as if you needed more confirmation, going cold turkey on all those terrifying climate change articles, smug couple photos, and clickbait election headlines will make you happier. You might have to learn to live without the funny dog videos, though.
