Much has been said about social networks and how they may contribute to and detract from the healthy social development of people, and enhance or inhibit productivity in the workplace. There is some new evidence now that social networks make happiness contagious.
New research by James Fowler at The University of California shows that in a social network, happiness spreads among people up to three degrees removed from one another. Fowler say that taking control of your happiness can positively affect others, and that a chain reaction can occur. The research has also shown that sadness spreads in a social network, but not as quickly. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, used data from the Framington Heart Study of a network of more than 4,000 people.The research study shows that each happy friend increases your own chance of being happy by 9% whereas each unhappy friend decreases it by 7%.
Fowler and his associates are also looking at Facebook, which has more than 120 million active users. This study is examining who smiles in their profile and who doesn't and whether their connections also smile or not. Fowler says that "we find smiling profiles cluster in much the same ay as happiness does in the Framington Heart Study." Fowler argues that "emotional states can be transferred directly from one individual to another by mimicry and emotional contagion," adding "people can'catch' emotional states they observe in others over time frames ranging from seconds to weeks."
Tony Hseish, CEO of Zappos, and author of his book, Delivering Happiness: A Path To Profits, Passion and Purpose, argues that the use of social media/social networking his business has powerfully developed his company's corporate culture, values, customer service and productivity.
The prevalence use of social media in the workplace as a method of developing positive relationships as well as a business strategy is growing. We can now add one piece in that picture-the importance and impact of social networks in developing levels of happiness in individuals. And research shows that happy people are more productive people.
