Third, much study has focused on or assumed a psychologically “healthy” population.
Because the profile of SNS users increasingly reflects the profile of the offline community, it may be worthwhile researching in more detail the impact of both nonclinical “dark” personality traits and clinically significant psychological conditions on Facebook usage and impact. There is also scope to explore in more detail the potentially negative impact of Facebook use. This review has identified some of the emerging evidence in this respect, but it appears to be patchy; future work could address this issue more systematically, perhaps with a multilevel model that identifies risks associated with Facebook use in the short, medium, and longer term, at the individual, corporate, and societal level. Addressing the darker side of Facebook might also involve exploring further its role in relation to relevant group phenomena such as peer pressure and cyber-bullying.