Galway Bay fm newsroom - Research carried out by NUI Galway into Instagram has revealed the social media platform can make you less lonely - but more unhappy.
The study was carried out in collaboration with the University of Zaragoza in Spain.
It follows a recent pilot initiative by Instagram to hide the number of likes a post receives from other users, to support wellbeing through reduced competition.
In an experiment carried out in the US, researchers investigated the effect of likes on negative affect and loneliness.
Negative affect is a subjective form of emotional distress - such as being upset, ashamed, or nervous.
Participants were given scenarios where they received a lot more, or a lot less, likes than they expected.
Researchers found that people seek likes to feel less lonely, but the active seeking of likes can increase negative affect, especially among those who compete for high numbers and position.
Meanwhile, those who received lower likes than expected felt more lonely, but did not suffer negative affect, even if those likes were visible to others.
Researchers suggest these people feel they have already lost in the relative competition for likes, so it doesn't matter to them whether their likes are visible or not.
They say like-seeking can become a vicious cycle and there is little evidence to suggest that well-being is improved by showing likes to Instagram followers.
