Melbourne, Nov 10 (ANI): Australian scientists have revealed that Facebook could be playing a role in lifting binge-drinking rates among university students.
They said the students' desire to portray themselves as party animals on their Facebook accounts could worsen real-life habits.
The world-first study tracked the Facebook accounts and drinking habits of 157 Australian university students, aged 18-24.
Study author Brad Ridout said the online "alcohol identity" of students and attempts to "portray oneself as a drinker" online encouraged others to binge drink.
"It is those who consider alcohol to be a major part of their online identity that are most at risk of alcohol-related problems such as blackouts, getting into fights or regrettable sexual encounters," the Daily Telegraph reported Ridout, from the University of Sydney, as saying.
"So the more drinking is depicted as socially desirable on Facebook, the more it perpetuates an online culture that normalises binge drinking," he stated.
More than 96 per cent of the university students surveyed drank alcohol, with more than half reporting "potentially problematic alcohol use" according to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test.
Ridout's study was published in the Drug and Alcohol Review journal. (ANI)
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