New York, December 21, 2016: If you are feeling blue and cannot figure out why, taking an occasional break from Facebook might do wonders, suggests a research.
The study showed that regular use of social networking such as Facebook can negatively affect your emotional well-being and satisfaction with life, but you do not have to quit Facebook altogether.
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Simply changing your social networking behaviour and taking an occasional break from Facebook may lift your spirits, said the study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking.
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In the study, Morten Tromholt from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, described an experiment in which he gave more than 1,000 participants a pre-test and then randomly assigned them to one of two conditions — continue using Facebook as usual or stop using Facebook for a week.
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After one week without Facebook, the treatment group showed statistically significant improvement in well-being, with gains varying depending on the amount of time they previously spent on Facebook and whether or not they were passive users and tended to envy others on Facebook. (IANS)
The social media application, Facebook is displayed on Apple's App Store, July 30, 2019. VOA
Fake ads on Facebook are spreading rumours about the ill-effect of anti-HIV drugs, targeting LGBTQ Facebook and Instagram users and are causing significant harm to public health, a non-profit organization GLAAD has written in a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
“We are urgently reaching out to Facebook and Instagram regarding factually inaccurate advertisements which suggest negative health effects of Truvada PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis).
“We request that Facebook and Instagram remove the advertisements and also publicly address the misinformation that the platforms allowed to spread,” the non-profit organization said in the letter.
Using Facebook’s and Instagram’s targeted advertising programs, various law firms are attempting to recruit gay and bisexual men who use Truvada PrEP as an HIV preventative to join a lawsuit, claiming that the drug has caused harmful side effects in this patient population, specifically bone density and kidney issues.
“This is despite numerous studies underscoring the safety of TDF in HIV-negative PrEP users,” said GLAAD.
Leading public health officials, medical professionals, and dedicated PrEP navigators and outreach coordinators have shared that these advertisements on Facebook and Instagram are being directly cited by at-risk community members expressing heightened fears about taking PrEP.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that when taken daily, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV from sex or injection drug use.
“Studies have shown that PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99 per cent when taken daily.”
HIV is a virus that impairs the body’s immune system badly and eventually takes the patient closer. Pixabay
By allowing these advertisements to persist on their platforms, said the letter, Facebook and Instagram are convincing at-risk individuals to avoid PrEP, invariably leading to avoidable HIV infections.
“You are harming public health.”
Facebook was yet to comment on the letter.
Facebook’s Advertising Policy regarding misinformation in ads states that “Facebook prohibits ads that include claims debunked by third-party fact checkers or, in certain circumstances, claims debunked by organizations with particular expertise.”
