Informing friends about negative events on social media can make you feel worse
London, sad news, Twitter and Facebook
London: Many of us take to Twitter and Facebook to share our excitement when we have good news. But, bad news is different. Whether it is a break-up, job loss or illness, a phone call is still our preferred choice of communication.
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Old-fashioned: When it came to bad news, people preferred calling instead of posting their feelings on social media.
representation pic/Thinkstock
A recent study found that, despite the popularity of social media, we still deliberately choose traditional forms of communication when our news will have a negative impact.
This could be due to the fact that sharing bad news on social media makes us feel worse, while sharing good news gives us a high, as it makes the event feel more ‘real’.
The study, conducted by the researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, involved observing the sharing habits of 300 undergraduate students at the university.
All participants kept a daily journal to document what they shared, how they shared it and how they felt when the incident occurred.
The study found that 70 per cent of all social sharing was through social media, texting or phone calls, and in person.
Participants shared positive news across several forms of media, such as text messages or Twitter, because the information spreads quickly, and gets a response quickly.
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