You can keep that arsehole girl on your newsfeed who posts status updates of her fridge captioned 'Just bought a new fridge', because apparently looking at people with worse-off lives than you can actually do you some good. Alright, so it's not about to make you a better person, but there are definitely benefits, and it certainly won't turn you into an evil, festering blob of a woman.
Firstly, an experiment conducted in Ohio State University tested loads of students found that those in good moods would linger on the profiles of people looking like they were having a right laugh of a life. Those in bad moods would look at people who appeared to be having a terrible time or, at least, worse time than they were.
'If you need a self-esteem boost, you're going to look at people worse off than you. You're probably not going to be looking at the people who just got a great new job or just got married,' said Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick. 'One of the great appeals of social network sites is that they allow people to manage their moods by choosing who they want to compare themselves to.'
Secondly, we spoke to Chartered Psychologist Dr. Jane McCartney to see if there was actually a direct link between hate-following and mood improvement because, let's face it, we all know we manage our emotions with social media due to bitter experience of getting into Marburg Disease Wikipedia holes at 4am (Just me? Whatever).
'OK so I wouldn't call it healthy, but it does have its benefits,' she told The Debrief. 'Schadenfreude is a sinful joy, and it does certainly make you feel better about yourself but you do need to be aware of it and make sure you get an exit point.' What about the fact I hate-follow the guy who bullied me at school who now has a terrible life? Is that OK? 'That's perfectly acceptable, because you're aware and keeping it in check. It sort of feels like justice has been done,' she says. It can also, aside from making you feel guiltily happy, act as a positive motivator. 'It can help you get you where you need to go,' explains Dr. McCartney. 'Say if someone is really struggling with how they're feeling, they will look at somebody who is definitely struggling more and think "Actually, I don't want to be like you" and this can be motivating. Although of course there are other techniques for self improvement and feeling better!'
OK so we know it can have its uses, and that sometimes it can even be good for you, but what is hate-following exactly? There are two kinds: firstly, we follow people who make us want to spit on ourselves just to have an outlet to express our distaste and wish we weren't (see also: hate-reading certain celebrity gossip sites/sidebars and feeling dirty) and secondly, the kind that involves getting some sort of sick pleasure from such activities. This is regarding, specifically, that second type of hate-following. You know, the boring people, the people who used to bully you who have remained in the hometown you vacated aged 18 and now have three kids and look sad, that vacuous girl who appears now to be working in the City and you have no idea how that possibly happened, the ex boyfriend who now looks a bt like Dean Gaffney.
Not that we're terrible people, but we simply can't help using other people's misfortunes to boost our own fragile self esteems sometimes. Occasionally by sending screenshots of offending statuses, instagrams and tweets to our mates via evil Whats App groups. Look, if you've never done it then you're either lying or Jesus. 'It's certainly a part of human nature,' says Dr. McCartney. 'But you need to make sure it doesn't get out of hand!'
Hate-follow away, guys! Just don't get too into it. Or accidently send a screengrab directly to them. It's confusing and they'll probably twig pretty quickly.
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Picture: Chris Taylor
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.