To Like or not to Like? Approve or not approve a Friend Request? And why is that random guy Poking me?!
A study has found that managing your Facebook account leads to stress and anxiety, with many even saying the negative psychological effects outweigh the benefits of staying in touch through the site.
This stress manifests itself in a number of behaviors: delaying replying to friend requests (63 percent of those polled); feeling anxious (12 percent); feeling guilty for rejecting friend requests (32 percent); disliking receiving friend requests (10 percent).
Other causes of tension included purging unwanted contacts, the pressure to be inventive and entertaining, and having to use appropriate etiquette for different types of "friends," the study reports.
Furthermore, people with the most number of Facebook friends were most likely to feel stressed out by the site.
"The results threw up a number of paradoxes," said lead researcher Dr. Kathy Charles, in a statement. "For instance, although there is great pressure to be on Facebook there is also considerable ambivalence amongst users about its benefits.
"An overwhelming majority of respondents reported that the best thing about Facebook was 'keeping in touch,' often without any further explanation," she added. "But many also told us they were anxious about withdrawing from the site for fear of missing important social information or offending contacts."
The study was conducted by psychologists at Edinburgh Napier University, through a combination of focus groups, online surveys, and one-on-one interviews. The researchers quizzed around 200 students on their use of the site, and supplemented the findings with an online survey of 175 participants. The average age of the sample was 30.4 years old.
Maybe you should hold off buying one of those Facebook phones after all.