For a happier life, give up Facebook: Study Claims

A study showed that those who hadn't been on Facebook for a week said they were more satisfied with their lives, with 88 per cent of them describing themselves as happy. The research carried out by the Happiness Research Institute, the study involved a sample of 1,095 people  who were divided into two groups, half of whom continued using Facebook while the others stopped.

"We focused on Facebook because it is the social media that most people use across age groups," Meik Wiking, HRI's chief executive told AFP Tuesday.After a week, those people who hadn't been on Facebook said they were more satisfied with their lives, with 88 per cent of them describing themselves as "happy" compared with 81 per cent from the second group.

At the end of the experiment, the abstainers reported having a richer social life and fewer difficulties in concentrating, while the others reported no such change.

"Instead of focusing on what we actually need, we have an unfortunate tendency to focus on what other people have," In other words, Facebook users are 39 percent more likely to feel less happy than non-users.