Wait…a new study says Facebook might actually help us live longer!

Let’s just be honest about Facebook for a moment: it’s usually kinda great, and we love it (sorry not sorry!). And The New York Times let us know that Facebook could be associated with a longer life according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The paper discusses the benefits of having an active online social life, which challenges previous research that indicated too much social media can have negative consequences. So…if you are slightly obsessed with finding out what your Facebook profile says about your love life or looking for hidden message inboxes or just updating your status, it might actually be good for you!

"We find that 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."

The paper looked at 12 million social media profiles with subjects born between 1945 and 1989, and found that “moderate” Facebook users with large friend circles tended to live longer than those with fewer Facebook friends.

Apparently receiving friend requests was related to lower mortality, but sending friend requests had little bearing.

So! The moral of the story is that we probably still shouldn’t let Facebook run our lives and we should remember that there are two sides to every argument, BUT that it’s perfectly okay to enjoy an active online social life. Here here for healthy moderation!

H/T: Uproxx