Social Makes You Happy! #ibmsocialbiz #socbiz #ibm #ls12 #ibmimpact

I am a very happy person!  Is part of that because I am a social business evangelist?

Consider these facts!

1. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego concluded that happiness is also a collective phenomenon that spreads through social networks like an emotional contagion.  In a study that looked at the happiness of nearly 5000 individuals over a period of twenty years, researchers found that when an individual becomes happy, the network effect can be measured up to three degrees. One person’s happiness triggers a chain reaction that benefits not only their friends, but their friends’ friends, and their friends’ friends’ friends. The effect lasts for up to one year.
2. Blue Shield discussed recent research that showed the power of social connectedness in improving health outcomes.   They found that gamification Boosts Employee Health Behavior.

3. People are  16% more productive browsing Internet social sites for 10 minutesthan taking a personal rest break.  According to a new study, Web browsing can actually refresh tired workers and enhance their productivity, compared to other activities such as making personal calls, texts or emails, let alone working straight through with no rest at all.  (The study, “Impact of Cyberloafing on Psychological Engagement,” by Don J.Q. Chen and Vivien K.G Lim of the National University of Singapore, presented at the Academy of Management)

4. Accordinging to Framingham Study, happiness spreads through social networks.

5. And the Virtual Happiness Institute, there is a strong association between “social community” and helping with psychological well-being.