Why friends stalk Facebook profiles of failed buddies

When feeling down and out, do you scan through Facebook profiles of friends who are not so successful to find some solace that you are not alone struggling with life?

According to a study, people in good mood surf profiles of friends who are successful and attractive.

On the other hand, when they feel low, they stalk the profiles of people who have had more difficulties in their lives, said researchers from the Ohio State University in the US.

To prove this, researchers analysed 168 under-graduate students to determine how mood affects who people stalk on Facebook.

The students went through a test on facial recognition.

They were told their results were either excellent or terrible regardless of actual performance.

Researchers asked them to go through a fake social network called SocialLink with eight fictitious profiles.

"Those whose results were terrible scanned through profiles of people who were not so successful in life. They tried to manage their mood 'through selective exposure'," researchers noted.

The findings are set to appear in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.