“I use Facebook mostly for organizing, for work with Tufts Divest [for Our Future] and Students for a Just and Stable Future and to connect with people all around the country who all are on Facebook,” he said. “It’s just a tool. You can use it well, you can use it poorly, you can use it productively or you can waste time on it.”
Sharew found that the time he spends online can usually be better spent studying or spending time with friends. He explained that he deactivated his Facebook account about one year ago.
“I cut out Facebook because I realized the time that I was spending on Facebook was making inroads into the time that I should’ve spent studying and connecting with other people,” he said. “Time spent with real people or time spent doing things I was supposed to be doing was much more valuable time spent than the time spent on Facebook.”
A 2010 article in The New Yorker examined various studies linking Facebook use and mood and found that the way in which people use the site — and not the duration of use — was the deciding factor in determining whether there was an increase or decrease in level of happiness. According to the article, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University observed positive mood changes when participants directly engaged with others through messages, wall posts or “likes,” but there was an increase in loneliness and disconnect when people passively browsed content.