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Your Facebook friends may be making you sick

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Having hundreds of friends on Facebook might help you look more popular, but it might also be making you ill.

And no one wants to hang around with a sniffling, sneezing mess.

Researchers at Regis University found that people with more friends on Facebook suffer from poorer health, particularly with upper respiratory infections.

The risk of infection was also higher for people who reported having Facebook-induced anxiety.

This could mean feeling worried when someone doesn't reply to a comment or message, or doesn't accept your friend request.

​The paper, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, stated:

Users who demonstrated anxiety regarding their Facebook use were more likely to demonstrate a pattern of increased number of log-ins to Facebook/day and these anxiety-linked behavior patterns were associated with poorer health.

Researchers found this out by analysing the responses of 89 college students, who completed a survey about their general health and Facebook habits.

The researchers then tracked the respondents for 10 weeks, monitoring any upper respiratory infections.

They found that Facebook-induced anxiety triggered a higher number of infections, and those with more Facebook friends reported higher anxiety and stress levels, as well as more infections.

General Facebook use, and the amount of time someone spent on the site, however, wasn't linked with poorer health.

Study author Jay P. Campisi told PsyPost

If you’re looking to feel less lonely or feel happier or have better health, probably staring at a phone or computer screen is not the way to go.

More: This is why Facebook is ruining your life, according to science

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