A study by the University of Houston, in Texas, has found that constantly comparing oneself to friends, coupled with the amount of time spent on Facebook, might be linked to depression.
"It doesn't mean Facebook causes depression - it means that spending lots of time on Facebook and comparing oneself to others tends to go hand-in-hand with depression," said Mai-Ly Steers, a researcher in the study, a report on which appeared in the journal Social and Clinical Psychology.
Facebook gave information about people's friends that users did not usually have access to, which increased opportunities for people to compare themselves to others - and conclude that they were living shallow, boring lives.
Psychologists have long suggested that there is a link between Facebook and depression.
"What you have," said relationship coach Stephanie Dawson-Cosser, "are hundreds of people telling you all this great news, but in reality it is not all that great."
Izabella Gates, MD of Life Talk, said her organisation was seeing an increasing incidence of depression due to social media, hectic lifestyles and cyber-bullying.
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