Athens, Georgia: Instead of spending time on social media to improve mood or increase mental positivity, have a one-on-one conversation with someone directly.
A new study has found that face-to-face social interactions have a greater positive effect on mood than spending time on social media.
The study’s authors said in a report recently published online that the findings suggest that people use their smartphones either because they want to avoid the unpleasant experience of being alone or because they directly want to be alone. Don’t know the benefits of direct social interaction.
“We were interested in how people compare their options for social connections—direct or indirect social connections, both in terms of whether they’re in a relationship,” Christina Lequefort, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia and lead author of the study, said in a news release. How they expect to feel and then how they actually feel after doing them.
Some participants in the study were given specific smartphone tasks that included watching videos, using social media, messaging or other activities, while others were given the task of sitting and talking with other people.
The results showed that participants who interacted with each other had a significantly better effect on their mood than those who spent time on social media on a smartphone.
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