Taking a five-day break from Facebook reduces people’s stress levels, new research suggests.
Abstaining from the social-media site lowers the amount of the stress-hormone cortisol people produce, a study found.
Yet, the benefits may not be clear cut, with people reporting a reduced sense of wellbeing after not visiting the website for less than a week, with many being happy to check in again, the research adds.
Researchers believe quitting Facebook enables people to escape an overload of information but also cuts them off socially.
They wrote: ‘Our results suggest that the typical Facebook user may occasionally find the large amount of social information available taxing and Facebook vacations could ameliorate this stress – at least in the short term.’
The social-media site was recently hit by a scandal when the communication firm Cambridge Analytica profited from a feature that allowed apps to access data from Facebook users and their online friends without their permission.
This information was used to help influence voters at the ballot box, and was said to play a role in President Donald Trump’s victory and the Brexit campaign.
Taking a five-day break from Facebook reduces people’s stress levels (stock)
Facebook breaks could stop people becoming stressed
Results further suggest that while not visiting Facebook causes people’s cortisol levels to reduce, they do not report feeling any less stressed.
Study author Eric Vanman, from the University of Queensland, who frequently takes social-media breaks himself, said: ‘While participants in our study showed an improvement in physiological stress by giving up Facebook, they also reported lower feelings of wellbeing.
‘People said they felt more unsatisfied with their life and were looking forward to resuming their Facebook activity.
‘It seems that people take a break because they’re too stressed but return to Facebook whenever they feel unhappy because they have been cut off from their friends.
‘It then becomes stressful again after a while, so they take another break. And so on.’
How the research was carried out
The researchers analysed 138 active Facebook users.
The study’s participants were either told to give up the social-media site for five days or continue using it as normal.
They were asked how stressed they felt both before and after the study.
Saliva samples were also taken to measure their cortisol levels.
The findings were published in the Journal of Social Psychology.
WHAT IS THE CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA SCANDAL?
Communications firms Cambridge Analytica has offices in London, New York, Washington, as well as Brazil and Malaysia.
The company boasts it can ‘find your voters and move them to action’ through data-driven campaigns and a team that includes data scientists and behavioural psychologists.
‘Within the United States alone, we have played a pivotal role in winning presidential races as well as congressional and state elections,’ with data on more than 230 million American voters, Cambridge Analytica claims on its website.
The company profited from a feature that meant apps could ask for permission to access your own data as well as the data of all your Facebook friends.
The data firm suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix (pictured), after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump
This meant the company was able to mine the information of 55 million Facebook users even though just 270,000 people gave them permission to do so.
This was designed to help them create software that can predict and influence voters’ choices at the ballot box.
The data firm suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump.
This information is said to have been used to help the Brexit campaign in the UK.
Quitting Facebook enables people to escape an overload of information (stock)
Quitting Facebook makes more than 80% of people ‘happy’
This comes after research released last month suggested quitting Facebook makes people happier.
Scientists from the Happiness Research Institute in Denmark found that 88 per cent of people feel ‘happy’ after giving up the social-media site.
They also describe feeling more enthusiastic, less lonely, more decisive and less worried.
Study participants Sophie Anne Dornoy said: ‘After a few days, I noticed my to-do list was getting done faster than normal as I spent my time more productively.
‘I also felt a sort of calmness from not being confronted by Facebook all the time.’
The non-Facebook users spent more time with their families and had an easier time concentrating.
The researchers found that people who frequently use Facebook can feel anxiety related to envy towards their online friends after looking at their posts.
They wrote: ‘Instead of focusing on what we actually need, we have an unfortunate tendency to focus on what other people have.’