A study by Economics Professor Haifang Huang and his co-author, John Helliwell from the University of British Columbia, examines the effects of real and on-line friends on an individual's well-being. Using a sample of five thousand Canadians, and controlling for income, demographic factors, and personality differences, they find that doubling the number of real friends has a significant effect on well-being -- equivalent to a 50 percent increase in income. By contrast, increasing the number of online friends has no positive effect.
The study "Comparing the Happiness Effects of Real and On-line Friends" was published in PLOS ONE and is discussed in FT Magazine.