We've heard that Facebook can make teens depressed, wreck marriages, even kill couples' sex lives. But a new study finds the users of the social networking site are more trusting in general, have closer relationships and are more "politically engaged" than those who aren't busy friending others and sharing the activities and emotions of day-to-day life.
The "use of social networking sites is growing" and "those who use these sites, especially Facebook users, have higher measures of social well-being," said the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project in a report, "Social networking sites and our lives."
Among the organization's findings about Facebook users:
- They're "more trusting than others."
- They have "more close relationships."
- They are "much more politically engaged."
- They "get more social support."
- Facebook helps users "retain high school ties and it revives dormant relationships."