As many as one in three people who use Facebook experience negative feelings afterwards, such as envy and frustration, a new study has found.

At least three in four Irish people who use the internet use Facebook. Nine in 10 Irish people aged 15-24 are estimated to use the social networking site, the majority of whom use it every day.

German scientists decided to look more closely at people's feelings after using the site. Over one-third said they were left with mainly negative feelings. The major reason for this appeared to be envy of their Facebook friends.

"Access to copious positive news and the profiles of seemingly successful ‘friends' fosters social comparison that can readily provoke envy. By and large, online social networks allow users unprecedented access to information on relevant others, insights that would be much more difficult to obtain offline," explained one of the lead scientists, Dr Hanna Krasnova, of Humboldt-Universität.

She noted that people who primarily use Facebook as a source of information, for example, reading their friend's posts, looking at their pictures and checking news feeds, are particularly prone to negative feelings.

Meanwhile, the study also noted that people who feel envious can end up embellishing their own Facebook profiles, which leads to others feeling more envious of them. The scientists referred to this as ‘envy spiral'.

The study also noted a link between online envy and dissatisfaction with life in general. It noted that people who passively used the site were more likely to have feelings of resentment or envy, which adversely affected their overall satisfaction with life.

"Considering the fact that Facebook use is a worldwide phenomenon and envy is a universal feeling, a lot of people are subject to these painful consequences," the scientists added.

The results of this study are due to be presented at an international conference on information systems in Germany next month.