Facebook could be causing us to envy our friends, a study says
Sizing up our own accomplishments against the people we know is making us unhappy and possibly depressed, a study says.
Facebook envy is real - and it could be making you depressed.
That's the finding of a study which looked at how we are affected by regularly viewing the lives of our friends and colleagues on social media.
By sizing up our own accomplishments against the people we know, we are making ourselves unhappy, researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia said.
Based on a study of hundreds of students, it was found that "surveillance use" - browsing the site to see how friends are doing compared to their own lives - can experience symptoms of depression.
Professor Margaret Duffy said: "We found that if Facebook users experience envy of the activities and lifestyles of their friends on Facebook, they are much more likely to report feelings of depression.
"Facebook can be a very positive resource for many people, but if it is used as a way to size up one’s own accomplishments against others, it can have a negative effect.
"It is important for Facebook users to be aware of these risks so they can avoid this kind of behavior when using Facebook."
The researchers found that Facebook postings about things such as new cars, homes and expensive holidays - can evoke feelings of envy.
The researchers found that this envy can lead to Facebook users experiencing symptoms of depression.
The study appeared in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour.
Apple May Be Working On Its Own Search Engine
Apple could be building its own search engine to rival Google.
Apple currently uses Google and Bing for search on its products
The Cupertino firm has just posted a job advert looking for a project manager to work on "a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users".
The successful candidate will "play a part in revolutionising how people use their computers and mobile devices", the post added.
Google is the undisputed king of search with a 67% market share in the US, with Bing a distant second.
While many people would be unlikely to switch from Google on their desktop browsers, an Apple search engine could be introduced by default on Apple devices.
Apple currently uses Google by default for its Safari browser and Microsoft Bing when users access search through the voice-activated Siri assistant.
But the long-running agreement with Google to use its search engine on Safari expires this year.
Some technology commentators have suggested Apple's project could be less grand in scale, however, potentially just working on the built-in Spotlight file-finding system on Apple products.