People who count likes on Facebook have no sense of purpose in life: study

A study said such people base self esteem on likes and didn't have a sense of purpose.

New York: The social media has opened doors for people to interact with users from across the world and has also evolved as a platform where ideas, views and art can be shared with similar minded people.

Sharing pictures has also become a rage on the internet and people go to unimaginable lengths to click selfies that get the most likes. This trend of counting likes and shares on one’s online posts seems to indicate a grave issue, if a new study is to be believed.

While posts going viral can get thousands of likes and anyone can have thousands of followers on their Instagram accounts in the digital age, the study reveals that counting likes can be an indication of a life without any purpose.

The study conducted by observing 250 Facebook users to measure their self esteem and sense of purpose, found that those who based their self esteem entirely on their popularity on Facebook, had little or no sense of purpose.

While people with a sense of purpose did notice the positive response to their posts, they did not depend on it to feel good about themselves, as opposed to those who based self esteem on the response and felt worse when they got lesser likes.

In the past, selfie deaths and grave accidents have been reported as people tried to take pictures that get a more positive response on Facebook, and in some cases people were even reported to have committed suicide after failing to click the perfect selfie.