Study links number of Facebook friends, stress

A new study found a link between higher stress and the number of Facebook friends a person has.

The study from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland said stress levels seem to climb with every Facebook friend people add.

Melissa Flint, a psychologist with Midwestern University, said people need to understand the difference between a Facebook friend and a real friend.

“If you’re putting out whatever is on your mind and you have 900 Facebook friends, somebody might be offended and shoot something back,” she said. “It becomes a battleground.”

Flint said that battlefield creates a great deal of anxiety for some people who posted seeking approval and instead found themselves in a war of words.

“A lot of people feel like they can post things that they wouldn’t say to a person if that person were standing right in front of them,” she said.

Many people have Facebook friends that play games with people that they may have met only once. Flint said many of those people don’t share your beliefs.

“Don’t consider them in your friends circle. Your ‘friends.’ You need to carefully consider who you call a friend and that has become very loose. You need to set boundaries. Choosing your battles wisely really comes into play on Facebook. Facebook was never meant to be the entirety of our relationships and for a lot of people it has become that and that’s not how we’re meant to live.”