Study links high Facebook use with higher credit card debt

A new study draws a link between Facebook use and personal financial habits, noting that those who spend a long time on the social networking site tend to have higher credit card debt, lower credit scores and even bigger waistlines.

Credit Cards.com reported that the study conducted by Keith Wilkox and Andrew Stephen for a Columbia Business School research paper, drew a correlation between intense Facebook use and personal financial habits. The study found that having strong social ties on Facebook tended to boost peoples self-esteem. In turn this resulted in lower self-control, which then transferred into higher credit card debt. Stephen admitted the study did not prove Facebook caused higher debt, conceding it could be the other way round and people with higher debt may just happen to use Facebook more than those with lower levels of debt. A report in the WSJ substantiated the study's findings that intense Facebook users may tend to have bigger waistlines. It stated "People who spent more time online and who had a high percentage of close ties in their network were more likely to engage in binge eating and to have a greater body mass index." The study by Wilkox and Stephen was based on a series of five surveys and involved hundreds of participants.