New Delhi: Researchers have found that spending time on WhatsApp is good for our well-being. A study titled ‘Psychosocial Outcomes Associated with Engagement with Online Chat Systems’, found that the more time people spent on WhatsApp per day, the less lonely they were and the higher their self-esteem as a result of feeling closer to friends and family.
“There’s lots of debate about whether spending time on social media is bad for our well-being but we’ve found it might not be as bad as we think. The more time people spent on WhatsApp, the more this related to them feeling close to their friends and family and they perceived these relationships to be good quality,” said Linda Kaye, Professor at Edge Hill University.
“As well as this, the more closely bonded these friendships were and the more people felt affiliated with their WhatsApp groups, the more this was related positively to their self-esteem and social competence,” she added.
For the study, the research team picked 200 users, 158 women and 42 men with an average age of 24, found that the average reported daily use of WhatsApp was around 55 minutes, with people using it because of its popularity and group chat function.
According to the researchers, group affiliation also meant that WhatsApp users were less lonely. It seems that using WhatsApp to connect with our close friends is favourable for aspects of our well-being.
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Ms Kalinga