How does using Facebook really affect you? Does it make you a better—or worse—person? The latest research claims that while social networking may temporarily boost your self-esteem, it lessens your self-control both offline and online.
A paper by the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia Business School, published online in the Journal of Consumer Research, indicates that all those 'likes' and bolstering comments from your social circle tend to make us feel better about ourselves. But, according to the report in Science Daily, that feeling comes at a cost.
After experiencing a high while checking up on close friends via social networks, many of us then feel the low, displaying a drop in self-control resulting in greater Body Mass Index (BMI) and credit card debt.
"To our knowledge, this is the first research to show that using online social networks can affect self-control," said one of the study's coauthors, Andrew T. Stephen, who surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. Facebook users. "We have demonstrated that using today's most popular social network, Facebook, may have a detrimental affect on people's self-control."
As part of the testing, subjects were told to surf either CNN or Facebook, then choose between a cookie or granola bar. You guessed it, the social bunnies gravitated toward the cookie. They were also more likely to give up on the word puzzle they were given after reading Facebook or gossip site, TMZ.
Further testing correlated the extent of social networking with amount of credit card debt and BMI.
"The results suggest that greater social network use is associated with a higher body-mass index, increased binge eating, a lower credit score, and higher levels of credit-card debt for individuals with strong ties to their social network," wrote the researchers.
Interesting results. What's your take on these findings?
It has all the hallmarks of Hollywood. A boy who was disappeared in Indiana with his grandparents 19 years ago has been found living in a different state, under a different name.
According to an article in the Star, five-year-old Richard Wayne Landers Jr. was ultimately traced by his Social Security Identification number in Minnesota. He's now 24.
His grandparents, who lived in a nearby town, were apparently also living under aliases.
When Landers’ mother, Lisa Harter, found out, she literally screamed and jumped for joy. Harter, who is expecting a child from her second marriage, is hoping for a reunion with her son soon.
It's thought that the paternal grandparents kidnapped Landers when his parents were separating because they worried about custody arrangements since, according to police spokesman Sgt. Ron Galaviz, "the boy’s father was never in the picture."
Although the grandparents were accused of the felony in 1999, the charge was later dropped when the case went cold. The Harters later hired a detective whom they armed with Landers' SIN card.
“By all accounts, it didn’t appear he suffered from any abuse, either physical or mental,” Galaviz said.
Can you even imagine? Stunned and speechless here at Yummy Mummy Club...
Ridiculous is, as ridiculous does. What does an uber-wealthy, uber-famous couple buy to mark their darling's first birthday? More than a bunch of foil balloons and a princess cake, that's for sure. Yes, friends, Blue Ivy Carter, daughter of music megastars Beyonce and Jay Z, has just turned one: an anniversary that likely brought tears of joy to manufacturers of the custom-made, diamond-encrusted Barbie doll worth $80,000.
According to an article by Huffington Post, little Blue's parents reportedly shelled out $200,000 to mark the occasion. The extravagant, way OTT gesture should come as little surprise from the couple who invested in a $1 million-a-year nursery.
Aside from the Barbie, an additional $95,000 was spent on pink and white roses, $30,000 on costumes, jewelry, and 'tote bags...' The cake alone must have been pretty special—for $2,400.
“Nothing’s been too big or expensive for their little princess," a source revealed in the Sun. "They wanted her first birthday to set the tone for the rest of her life. They work hard for their money and the first thing they want to spend it on is their baby girl."
Yes, celebrities earn a pretty penny. Yes, of course we all like to lavish gifts on those we cherish the most. We all like to, er, spoil our kids.
But really, doesn't this display seem a tad obscene and cringe worthy, even by celebrity standards—not least of which because Blue won't even remember any of the fanfare. But you can be sure her parents will provide much video footage, so that she is well aware of the lap of luxury and incredible privilege into which she was born.
This, in a world where so many children have so little. How nice would it have been to have a charitable donation to those kids, in Blue Ivy's name? Now that would have been a memory would remembering...
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