Debating whether to quit Facebook or not is a dilemma only fit for modern life in 2019. Now a new study from New York and Stanford universities attempts to determine what happens to people when they leave it behind.
Researchers of the study invited 3,000 Facebook users to share information on their daily habits, politics and overall mood. Half were chosen to deactivate their accounts and were monitored to make sure they weren’t cheating. About one percent of the participants couldn’t make it for the one-month period.
The study found people who abstained from Facebook had at least one hour or more of extra free time and reported marginally better moods, though it was not enough to support the theory that heavy social media use makes people depressed or miserable. Many of them had more time to watch TV and socialize with their friends and family. These people were also five to ten percent less polarized on political issues than the people who stayed on Facebook for the study.
Here’s the real kicker: the study found the people who gave up Facebook scored fewer on factual knowledge of current events than they did when they used the platform.
"It's hard to know what to make of this," co-lead study author Dr. Matthew Gentzkow told The New York Times. "It may be that seeing a lot of news and politics on Facebook tends to polarize people. But once they're off Facebook, it doesn't necessarily mean they're using the extra time to read [the news.]"
