Facebook   friends cannot replace the real thing, say psychologists . People are happier and laugh 50% more when they talk face to face with friends or via webcam (web camera) than when they use social networking sites, a study has found. Dr. Roberts, a famous lecture at the University of Chester, said such websites don't appear to help make true friendships. Based on two questionnaires , he found there was no link between Facebook use and people with larger groups of friends. Dr. Roberts, whose work will be presented at the British Psychological Society conference in Harrogate, said, "The bottom lime conclusion is that our relationships are not dependent on the quantity of communication. They depend on quality, and even Skype  is better at increasing the quality of our communication than time on Facebook." Even talking on the phone or texting does not make people feel as good as sharing a smile, the research says. The studies suggest quality, not quantity, of communication is the most important for keeping friends for life. People find the most satisfying relationships come from a small number of close friends, with an outer "ring" of 10 significant others. With these people, it doesn't matter what type of social media you use for communication. But people who want to "contact the world at large" using Facebook can be disappointed because _ , claim researchers. In a third study, Dr. Roberts asked people to communicate with friends face to face or via Skype and keep a 14-day diary. This was compared with communicating via phone, text messages or social networking sites. People communicating face to face on Skype were 50% more likely to laugh, and they rated themselves as significantly happier. What is Dr. Roberts's attitude towards the use of Facebook?
Positive. Casual. Responsible. Unsupportive.