What is the impact of social media on our mental health?

This week’s question seems to be answered: It is the rare person who comes out of an hour of scrolling feeling healthy, rejuvenated and better prepared to face the vicissitudes of the day. The general consensus among online terminals seems to be that the internet is a miserable place barely made tolerable by well-meaning idiots and naive people whose hiccups at least provide something to be ridiculed. But is there any scientific basis for this widespread sentiment? How has social media actually impacted mental health, according to research? For this week Giz asks, we contacted a number of experts to find out.

Professor of Psychology, Washington State University, whose work focuses on adolescent self-perception and social media engagement in adolescents and young adults

It is somewhat difficult to determine the cause and effect with social media. It could be that social media has an impact on mental health, but it could also be that some people who feel distressed and lonely seek out social media. So it’s a bit like the chicken-and-egg situation.

With that said, there are two things we constantly see in research. The first is that social media can have a negative impact on sleep. People will stay up late at night, scrolling through their streams; or contact people on social media late at night; or will have a notification in the middle of the night. The second negative impact is the extent to which social media activates negative social comparisons: you see what other people post, then you feel inadequate.

Some of the work I’ve done with teens shows that being more engaged with social media – for example, checking them out more often – is linked to anxiety and depression, especially for teens who tend to fear of missing things. It makes them hyper-aware of what they’re missing out on.

Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, who conducts research on the role of social media in adolescent mental health and development

For many years, researchers have attempted to answer this question by testing whether there is an association between the overall time people spend using social media and their mental health. But this way of approaching the question leaves out two important facts.

First, social media isn’t just one thing. There is an incredible range of behaviors that a person can adopt and experiences that they can have on social media. Some of them can have a very negative impact on mental health, and others can have a positive impact. For example, research suggests that certain experiences can be particularly harmful, such as cyber-victimization (i.e. cyber victimization).

Second, people are unique! Each person enters their use of social media with different strengths and vulnerabilities. What is harmful on social media for one person may actually be useful for another. For one person scrolling through other people’s positive posts can be inspiring and fun, for another the same behavior can lead to harmful social comparisons.

Professor, Information & Computer Sciences, UC Irvine, who focuses on the changing relationships of children and youth with media and communications

At the Connected Learning Lab, we have conducted studies on how social media can both promote and harm the well-being of young people. On the positive side, most young people will say that social media and network games are a lifeline for supportive bonds with friends and loved ones. This was essential during the pandemic when schools and sports were banned. Social media can also be a way for young people to connect with other people with common interests and identities, which can be a lifeline for young people with marginalized or stigmatized identities, such as LBGTQ + youth or youth. young people from racial and religious minorities. On the negative side, depending on the spaces they frequent, young people may face harassment or unhealthy body image expectations.

Quantitative researchers are engaged in a healthy debate as to whether it is possible to isolate and identify the effects of social media on the mental health of young people, given the great variability in patterns of platform use. Some studies have found relationships between certain types of social media use and mental health issues. However, larger and aggregated studies have not been able to find these relationships generically among all youth and all forms of social media use.

It’s safe to say that social media can contribute to both healthy and unhealthy mental health behaviors, and just like offline social life, we need to be aware of the types of relationships and content that contribute or harm our well-being.

Professor, Media and Information, Michigan State University, who has spent over 20 years studying new media and the community

It is not cut and dry. The science is much weaker than most admit. Researchers sometimes report small “statistically significant” findings, but that’s not the same as a substantial link to mental health issues, such as clinical depression or anxiety. Some have found problematic uses of social media with experiments on college students. Others have used brain scanners, which examine blood flow in the brain in response to short, man-made experiments. And still others use straightforward questions like “Do you get confused if you’re banned from using social media?” But that’s no more a sign of “social media addiction” than asking if you feel uncomfortable when you’re not allowed to talk with your friends. Neither approach tells us much about real-world experiences with social media and mental health.

Yet social media is different from other forms of communication, and there may be cause for concern. Social media allows for increased awareness of the life experiences of friends and family. This “ubiquitous consciousness” has a mixed relationship with mental health. Knowing that acquaintances are having problems, such as losing a job or sick children, increases people’s stress. When connected via social media to someone who is experiencing a major decline in their mental health, depression and anxiety can be contagious. This can be particularly problematic if the algorithms work to increase engagement with this type of content. Fortunately, it also works the other way around. Awareness of desirable events disclosed via social media leads to better wellness reports.

When viewed with the other ways people meet and communicate, the use of social media generally protects against declining mental health. It does not replace face-to-face contact. Relationships that might have been inactive before now persist over time. As such, social media users tend to report that they have access to more social support and have less psychological distress.

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