Leading researchers William Hobbs and James Fowler emphasized that this condition only applied to those who use Facebook as a means of maintaining and elevating their social interactions in real life. 

The research, which involves 12 million Facebook users, found that online interaction is a healthy activity, especially when it is exercised in balance to offline activity, as said by Hobbs to rt.com on Wednesday. The findings, in collaboration with colleagues from Facebook and Yale, have been publicized in the Proceedings of the National Academic of Sciences journal.

(Read also: Excessive Facebook usage linked with depression in new moms)

For more than six months, the online activity of 12 million respondents born between 1945 to 1989, both alive or dead, were examined. Their ages and genders were all the same. The first conclusion that they reached was that moderate levels of using Facebook linked to low mortality rates.

The researchers also found that, as said in the New York Times, “People with more friends online are less likely to die than their disconnected counterparts. This evidence contradicts assertions that social media have had a net-negative impact on health.”

In a Northeastern University news release, Hobbs further explains how a combination of both online and real-world interactions can help enhance one’s overall health, “[…] It could be that the more you have moderate interactions online, the more likely you are to be friends with your Facebook friends offline as well, reinforcing your relationships.”

The researchers hope that this study will provide a better understanding as to how types of social interaction, both online and offline, can enhance a person’s well-being. (mra/kes)

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