witnessing friends' vacations, love lives and work successes on facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to german researchers.
a study conducted jointly by two german universities found rampant envy on facebook, the world's largest social network that now has over one billion users and has produced an unprecedented platform for social comparison.
the researchers found that one in three people felt worse after visiting the site and more dissatisfied with their lives, while people who browsed without contributing were affected the most.
"we were surprised by how many people have a negative experience from facebook with envy leaving them feeling lonely, frustrated or angry," researcher hanna krasnova from the institute of information systems at berlin's humboldt university told the reporters.
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