Is Facebook making you unhappy?

More evidence that the social network leads to the blues

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(Image credit: Tetra Images/Corbis)

It's a feeling we all know a little too well. We have a few minutes to kill, so we quickly scroll through our Facebook feed. The sorority sister you always secretly hated just got engaged, the guy you knew from the AV club posted photos from his vacation to Aruba, and your freshman roommate just announced she's moving to Australia. And suddenly, you're not feeling quite so okay.

There have been ample studies supporting the theory that Facebook makes us feel worse, from causing us to negatively compare ourselves to our friends, to torturing us with constant reminders of our exes and past relationships. Now, we can add a new report from the University of Michigan to the pile.

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Emily Shire is chief researcher for The Week magazine. She has written about pop culture, religion, and women and gender issues at publications including Slate, The Forward, and Jewcy.