For those wanting to make new friends, staying at home could prove the best way to find like-minded people.

Watching fictional TV series and joining online forums about the shows helps women express themselves and feel a sense of community, research has found.

These online communities give women a group to identify with, as they self-reflect and swap opinions with others about the storylines of the shows.

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For those wanting to make new friends, staying at home could prove the best way to find like-minded people. Watching fictional TV series and joining online forums about the shows helps women express themselves and feel a sense of community, research has found (stock image)

THE STUDY Researchers analysed more than 7,800 comments on social media and other online forums. They found that women in these digital communities expressed themselves through emotional ties with a series. This contributed to a sense of belonging based on their mutual enjoyment of the TV shows. Advertisement

Analysis of more than 7,800 comments on social media and other online forums revealed that the women in these digital communities expressed themselves specifically through their emotional ties with a television series.

This contributed to a sense of belonging based on their mutual enjoyment of the TV shows.

Of more than 2,500 fans whose comments were reviewed, 44.6 per cent expressed a feeling of belonging.

As an example, researchers highlighted one fan who commented online: 'Now that [TV show] has finished, I'm going to miss the forum.

'I've met such lovely people who episode by episode have forged an everlasting friendship.'

Lead author Professor Charo Lacalle, of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, said: 'This research has helped us to understand in what way domestic fiction communities created on the internet differ from traditional cult fandoms and what type of actions female social spectators carry out to create and maintain a feeling of community.

'Previous research has been heavily focused on more traditional cult fandoms who are typically seen as obsessive fans and geeks.

'We wanted to understand the more spontaneous fans, and why they choose to take part in such online discussion, and now we understand why that is.'

These online communities give women a group to identify with as they self-reflect and swap opinions with others about the storylines of the shows (stock image)

The study comes just days after experts revealed that binge-watching TV can make you feel like a zombie.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research in Belgium found that higher binge-viewing frequency leads to poorer sleep quality, more fatigue and increased insomnia.

The researchers found the negative symptoms are associated only with binge-watching and not watching TV for shorter periods of time.

HOW WATCHING TV COULD KILL YOU Excessive TV watching is linked to eight of the major causes of death, including cancer, liver disease and Parkinson's, a study found. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Michigan discovered that those who watch more than three-and-a-half hours of television a day are not only at risk of cancer and heart disease - illnesses commonly associated with long term laziness - but also diabetes, influenza, pneumonia, Parkinson's and liver disease. People who watched between three and four hours of TV a day were 15 per cent more likely to die from a common cause of death, compared to those who watched less than one hour a day, who died naturally. Watching seven hours of TV a day left a person 47 per cent more likely to die of the above illnesses. The scientists took other factors into consideration in their study, such as unhealthy eating, smoking and drinking. However, they found that when these were removed the risks involved with of sitting and watching TV remained the same. Advertisement



