'Flocking' behavior lands on social networking sites
Because social networks online are much more clearly defined than offline connections, they have been a boon to researchers. And studies are finding that despite dire predictions from naysayers who warned that spending too much time online would be damaging to real-life relationships, the opposite appears to be true. The findings, trickling in from early research, suggest health and psychological benefits for those who "friend" and are "friended." Ref. Source 9
Your friends have more friends than you do
No matter how smart and funny you think you are, those you follow on Twitter really do have a larger following than you. And the same holds true for Facebook. But there is no reason to feel badly about any of this, according to researchers who say that it is all due to the inherently hierarchical nature of social media networks, where, in the social hierarchy of connections, people mostly either follow up or across; they rarely follow down. Ref. Source 7q.
People could be genetically predisposed to social media use
Scientists used a behavior genetics framework and twin study data from the 2013 Midlife in the United States survey, York examined how both environmental and genetic factors contribute to social media use by applying an analytical model called Defries-Fulker Regression. Ref. Source 7o.
I do not get on Facebook nearly as much as I used to get on. I have focused more on other things. I will check to see what my friends are up to and respond to messages if needed. I do not tweet or instagram or any of the other new things kids are into.