In fact, there are two new studies — which were both led by Jeffrey Hall, an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence — that dispel “social displacement theory.”
Social displacement theory basically states that the more time you spend in the world of social media, the less time you’re likely to spend socializing with people in the real world.
This applies to both passive use of social media (such as mindless scrolling at a house party) and active interaction (such as living for those little green circles that appear next to the names of your Facebook friends.)
The social displacement theory also states that such a decrease in social interaction will make you miserable — or, to use scientific language, “lead to a decrease in your well-being.”
So, Hall and his team tested these ideas and published their findings in the journal Information, Communication & Society.
