Study: Most Facebook users take a break

NEW YORK: Too much drama, boredom and scads of irrelevant information are just some of the reasons Facebook users give for taking a break from the world’s biggest social networking site for weeks at a time, according to a new study. A report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project found that some 61 percent of Facebook users had taken a hiatus of at least several weeks for a myriad of reasons, whether they were weary from an onslaught of gossip, or for the more pious, the arrival of Lent. Yet the use of Facebook, whether constant or not, is pervasive in America. But users do come and go, some temporarily, and some for good. Twenty percent of those with Internet access said they used the site at one point, but no longer do. By its own count, Facebook Inc. has 1.06 billion users worldwide who check in at least once a month. This includes millions of duplicate and fake accounts. More than 150 million users are in the US. The largest slice of users, 20 percent, said that they were simply too busy with their own lives to follow the constant stream of status updates, George Takei quotes and baby photos.