Facebook friends can sometimes be a nuisance and according to a new study by Ben Marder of the University of Edinburgh, more friends can mean more stress. The study examined more than 300 people, most of whom were students with an average age of 21.
Stress was defined as when a user saw unacceptable behavior from their friends. For example, sharing offensive content or posting photos that probably shouldn’t be posted. With parents, bosses, or work colleagues watching, a situation can get out of hand fast.
55 percent of parents follow their children on Facebook and over 50 percent of employers have not hired someone because of what they posted. On average, Facebook users are friends with varying people from seven different social circles.
Here are the five most common Facebook friend types:
- Friends in real life (97 percent)
- Extended family (81 percent)
- Siblings (80 percent)
- Friends of friends (69 percent)
- Colleagues (65 percent)
Surprisingly, more people have their former partners as Facebook friends than current partners. 64 percent have their exes as friends compared to 54 percent who have their boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse as a friend.
More users also opt to share their Facebook posts publicly with only one third adjusting their privacy settings for posts. Segmenting your Facebook friends into different lists can help with sharing the right content with the right people.
wow that's interesting.