MSU Study Concludes Mean People Love Social Media

Not exactly unexpected, but at least it confirms what we've been thinking: mean people are more addicted to be online than nice folks are.

Has the tone on social media been pretty nasty lately? Probably because mean people are addicted to it, and will linger longer to get their nasty points across.

The Michigan State University study, conducted in concert with California State University at Fullerton, revealed that heaviest users of social media have personalities that enjoy angering and embarrassing others. (Also known as "trolls")

The two schools tracked the activity of 472 college students on Facebook and Snapchat.  And the ones who were the most addicted were more likely to be aggressive, and do things like cyberbullying.

“Our results demonstrate that individuals who have a greater preference for these types of rewards display greater problematic use of both platforms,” write the researchers, who note that these traits are also associated with narcissism and psychopathy and have previously been correlated with addictive internet use. They write that social media sites unwittingly “cater to people who seek rewards from being cruel, such as through cyberbullying or various aggressive online behaviors.”

They also found the average college student uses Facebook for 2 hours and 15 minutes a day, and Snapchat for 2 hours and 38 minutes.