“None of the people in the study, however, said that they’d reduced their use of Facebook because of the frequent offence they experienced from using it,” write Seargant and Tagg.

They speculate that this is because Facebook offers us the chance to be “slightly judgemental about the behaviour of your acquaintances”.

“Similar to the ‘hate-watching’ experience of viewing television programmes you don’t like because you enjoy mocking them, this can be seen as a mild form of ‘hate-reading’.

“Logging onto Facebook gives you the chance to be indignantly offended (or maybe just mildly piqued) by other people’s ill-informed views and idiosyncratic behaviour. And there’s a surprising amount of pleasure in that.”

Images: FOX / Rex Features

Still haven’t quit Facebook? It might be because you enjoy judging your friends