Even Facebook Says Facebook Isn’t All Good

Amazingly, Facebook has published a post weighing whether it’s good or bad for you.

It points to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology showing that passive Facebook users (who lurk and click links) report worsening mental health. It also cites research published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication showing that engaged users (who interact with others) have improved well-being.

TL;DR: Facebook says you should use it more actively to be happy. There are two ways to read that. Either Mark Zuckerberg is looking to gin up activity, or he’s starting to care about the impact his product is having on its users.

Cynics: read our recent feature about how infinite scroll hijacks our brain. Hopefuls: note that Axios reports Facebook is clamping down on so-called “engagement bait.”