Measuring the Product Environment: How Does Social Media Influence Health Behaviors?
A new consumer survey examines the links between social media use and different health habits
This report is the fourth in a series of reports on the results from a consumer survey on health-related behaviors and the influence of popular products and services. Fielded by Building H, a project to build health into everyday life, the surveys examined the influences of social media, video games, automobiles and bicycles on eating habits, physical activity, sleep and other behaviors. This report is based on surveys that focus specifically on social media platforms. More information on the survey project can be found here.
Key Findings:
- Light and moderate users of social media platforms were less likely to consume fast food and utilize meal delivery services than heavy users of these platforms. Similarly, light and moderate platform users reported eating home-cooked meals more frequently than heavy users.
- Fifty (50) percent of heavy platform users eat 3 or more fast food meals per week; in comparison — only 11% of light and 16% of moderate social media users reported eating 3 or more fast food meals per week.
- Forty-two (42) percent of heavy platform users get 3 or more meals delivered per week. Comparatively, only 7% of ‘light’ and 9% of ‘moderate’ users only get food delivered 3 or more times per week.
- Across all platforms, 32% of heavy platform users reported eating 6 or more home-cooked dinners per week. In comparison, 51% of ‘light’ social media users reported eating 6 or more home-cooked dinners per week.
- Approximately 20% of all social media users use tools or settings to limit time on the platforms and 38% of those who do report overriding these limits always or almost always or frequently.
- Heavy platform users, on average, were 4x more likely to check messages or notifications frequently or almost always in the middle of the night than light and moderate users. However, the nightly amount of sleep remained comparable among all respondents.
- Heavy users of social media platforms are more likely to report being lonely than light or moderate users, yet also report more in-person social activity.
- Majorities of users of each social media platform report that their use has made them feel more connected to family and friends.
- Social media users in general rate the platforms positively on all aspects of social connection we examined, with heavier users rating them higher.
Introduction
At Building H, we focus on the “product environment” — the commercial products and services that collectively weave the fabric of everyday life — and how it shapes people’s health. For the Building H Index, we assess how popular products and services influence the health behaviors of their users. As part of our analysis, we conduct surveys of the products’ users..
With support from Einhorn Collaborative, Building H contracted with the research firm Verasight to conduct a survey of US consumers about their use of certain types of commercial products and services and their health habits. Respondents were asked about their use of and experiences with popular social media platforms, video and computer games, automobiles and bicycles, along with questions about their eating habits, levels of physical activity, sleep, the amount of time they spent outdoors and, in particular, their social connection and social experience. The online survey was completed by a demographically representative sample of over 3,100 US adults and was conducted between August 22 and September 5, 2023.
This report focuses on five health behaviors related to the use of social media platforms by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. We worked with the Foundation for Social Connection and members of their Scientific Advisory Council, specifically Carla Perissinotto and Matthew Smith, to craft survey questions that would probe Americans’ social experiences generally and with these products/services specifically.
Who uses social media?
We started by examining the demographics of social media users, looking specifically at the gender, age and income users of the different platforms.
The gender balance for each platform generally mirrored that of the overall survey sample, with the exception of TikTok showing greater participation by women.
Age varied with platform users; Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok skewed slightly younger with more than ⅓ of respondents coming from the 18–29 age group.
The income distributions of users of the different platforms were remarkably similar to the distribution among the general population.
How much time do people spend on social media?
We asked users of the major platforms how much time they spend on each platform, on average, each day, and how much time they spend on social media each week. Facebook, YouTube and TikTok reported the heaviest usage ranging from 42–47% of users utilizing their respective platforms an hour or more per day.
On average, 22% of survey respondents reported using social media platforms several times a day, and 16% of survey respondents reported using social media platforms almost constantly.
Different platforms offer different options for setting usage limits (either time per day or restricting use during certain hours, such as bedtime). We asked both heavy and general platform users how often they use these options to set limits:
The survey results regarding screen time limits were relatively comparable amongst the various heavy platform user base(s). It’s important to note that Snapchat does not currently offer a set screen time limit function; however, users can potentially set app time limits manually within their phones’ settings section.
Of the minority of users who do set time limits, 38% responded that they override them either always or almost alway (18%) or frequently (20%).
Social Media and Health Behaviors
We then examined the links between social media use and five health behaviors: eating; physical activity; sleep; social connection; and spending time outdoors.
For these analyses, we defined different categories of users, based on the time they reported spending on social media.
- Light users, defined as users who reported using social media — no more than 30 minutes per day on any platform.
- Moderate users, defined as users who reported using social media — no more 60 minutes per day on any one platform and at least 30 minutes per day on at least one platform.
- Heavy users, defined as users who reported using social media two or more hours a day on a given platform (e.g. Heavy Facebook users, defined as users who reported using Facebook for two or more hours a day).
Eating habits
To explore the links between social media use and eating habits, we asked survey respondents about snacking while scrolling; use of food delivery services; eating fast food; and cooking meals at home.
For snacking, we looked at both the frequency of snacking while on social media and, more generally, the perceived healthfulness of their snacking habits (not specific to their snacks consumed while using social media).
Heavy users of social media were more likely to report frequently or always or almost always snacking while using social media than light or moderate users, but, interestingly, they were also more likely to report that their snacks were healthier, in terms of quantity and quality.
We asked respondents about their fast food consumption on a weekly basis, that is, how many meals did they pick up, eat at the restaurant, or have delivered. Light and moderate social media users consumed considerably less fast food than those who were heavy users.
Home cooked meals have been shown, in general, to be healthier than meals away from home. We found that light and moderate users of social media tended to eat more home-cooked dinners than heavy users of each of the five social media platforms.
In addition to the more specific questions about snacking, fast food, delivery and home-cooked meals, we also asked a general question about overall influence on diet.
Light and moderate users’ responses nearly mirrored each other, with approximately 75% of respondents saying social media has no significant influence on their diet. However, heavy platform users, on average, reported that 42% of users were encouraged to eat a little or much healthier due to the influence of social media across the respective platforms, as compared with only 6–15% reporting that they’d been influenced to eat a little less healthy or much less healthy.
Our survey findings indicate that most eating behaviors are comparable amongst various platforms. However, there are significant differences between light and moderate social media users and heavy social media users. Heavy social media users, on average, were three to four times more likely to eat three or more fast food meals per week than light and moderate users. Similarly, heavy users were about 1.5x less likely to eat 6 or more home cooked meals per week.
Additionally, our survey results revealed strong associations between heavy platform use and meal delivery. On average, heavy platform users were 6x more likely to get three or more meals delivered than a light platform user and 4.5x more likely than a moderate platform user.
Lastly, respondents answered questions about the quantity and quality of their snacks, as well as how often they snack while on social media. We saw considerable variation amongst light and moderate platform users opposed to heavy platform users. Heavy platform users, on average, were 3.5x more likely to snack while on social media. However, the quality and quantity of snacks was seemingly comparable, on average ⅓ of respondents answered that their snacks are mostly healthy.
Physical Activity
We asked people about the amount of time they spend each week engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Note that CDC recommends that adults get a minimum of 2.5 hours per week.
Our survey findings indicate that most physical activity behaviors are comparable amongst light and moderate platform users and heavy platform users. In fact, heavy platform users reported higher levels of daily physical activity, in comparison to light and moderate users.
Sleep
We were interested in understanding social media’s impact on sleep patterns before and during peak bedtimes. We asked all respondents about their use of social media before bedtime, checking messages and notifications in the middle of the night, and total sleep duration.
We asked people how many hours of sleep they typically got each night:
Our survey findings indicate that overall sleep duration was generally comparable amongst all groups. On average, about ⅓ of light, moderate, and heavy platform users received six hours or fewer of sleep. Interestingly, heavy users of both Instagram and Snapchat were less likely to report getting six or fewer hours of sleep per night than light or moderate users of social media.
We also asked respondents about checking messages and/or notifications in the middle of the night:
Heavy platform users exhibited some variation amongst different user base(s). Heavy Snapchat users were the most likely to check their phones in the middle of the night, frequently or always or almost always, at 63%. Meanwhile, heavy Instagram users responded by checking their phones in the middle of the night 54% of the time. Next, heavy TikTok users responded at 48%. Finally, heavy Facebook and YouTube platform users were comparable around 37–39%.
However, on average, heavy platform users were nearly 3.5x more likely to check messages or notifications frequently in the middle of the night and 4.5x more likely to check messages or notifications always or almost always in the middle of the night to light or moderate platform users.
We also asked people about their use of social media in the hour before bed:
Once again, our survey findings indicate minimal differences for heavy social media users across platforms. However, heavy users were approximately 2.5 times more likely to use social media in the hour before bedtime than light users.
When it comes to sleep, the survey results suggest a paradox and also capture the indispensable nature of our mobile devices. More than 1/3 of respondents (36%) indicated getting six hours or fewer of sleep nightly. However, there was no difference in total amount of sleep between light, moderate, or heavy social media users. At the same time, heavy social media users indicated sizable differences in usage rates, both before and during bedtime. Heavy platform respondents, on average, reported that they always or almost always use their phone one hour before bed (43%) and check messages or notifications during the night (25%). These numbers demonstrate the degree to which social media use has invaded bedtime routines and indicate widespread practice of poor sleep hygiene, yet the impact of the phenomenon is not captured in the data on sleep duration.
Social Connection
We asked social media users a series of questions pertaining to their use of social media and its influence on social connection. Results from a number of these questions were covered in The Connection Paradox, another report in this series. Key relevant results from that report included:
- On average, heavy platform users were 1.3 times more likely to report being lonely than moderate users and 1.6 times more likely to report being lonely than light users.
- Heavy platform users were more likely to agree or strongly agree to better connection with friends, family, and neighbors than light and moderate users.
- 69% of respondents reported two or fewer social visits in their last week from people who didn’t live with them.
Here, we look more closely at how some of these questions vary across the social media platforms.
Loneliness:
As discussed in The Connection Paradox, we assessed loneliness the UCLA Three-Item Loneliness scale and found a correlation between heavier use of social media and a greater likelihood of being lonely.
In person visits:
In addition to the loneliness scale, we asked all respondents about their social activity by having them report on the number of times in the last week that they spent time in person with someone not from their household.
Twenty-five (25) percent of respondents indicated that they had not spent any time with someone who didn’t live with them. Fifty-three (53) percent reported having two or more visits.
Interestingly, heavy use of social media also translated to more in-person social activity. Heavy users of the different platforms were more likely to report two or more in-person social visits per week than light and moderate social media users.
Feeling More Connected:
Majorities of users of all five platforms reported that their use of social media (generally, not platform-specific) made them feel more connected to friends and family, with virtually no differences across the platforms.
Heavy users of the platform were also more likely to report that their social media use made them feel more connected to friends, family and neighbors than light and moderate users. Heavy Facebook users were the most likely to report these feelings of greater connection.
Influence on Social Relationships and Interactions:
Building off the Retrospective Assessment for Connection Impact scale developed by Matthew Smith, we asked respondents a series of questions assessing how their most frequently used social media platform influenced their experience of 13 different elements of social connection.
Looking at the averages across the 13 different aspects of social connection in the above scale, light social media users reported the least positive influence (0.26). Moderate social media users rated the influence an average of 0.46 and heavy users came in at 0.97. Scores were almost uniformly positive, although ratings indicate a slight positive. assessment (clustering around +1 on a scale of -3 to 3). Ratings also indicate that the platforms are more successful at maintaining existing relationships than at creating new relationships, helping people bridge across differences, or feel less excluded.
We also broke down the results by the platform each respondent used the most, with Snapchat and Instagram users rating their experiences higher than Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
Spending Time Outdoors
We were interested in the amount of time respondents spent outdoors, as this can be influenced by social media use, among other behaviors. Respondents answered two questions on getting outdoor exposure: 1) how much time do they spend outdoors on a typical summer day; and 2) how often are they outdoors when they use social media?
Heavy platform users reported receiving 1 or more hours outdoors at a higher rate than light and moderate users. In fact, on average, heavy platform users reported 1 or more outdoor hours 1.3x more than light and moderate users. Heavy Snapchat users reported the highest response, with 71% indicating that they spent an average of an hour or more outdoors.
Additionally, we asked respondents about their frequency of using social media while outdoors (and not inside a vehicle).
- Heavy platform users, on average were 3.3x more likely to use social media outdoors, always or almost always compared to light and moderate respondents.
- On the flip side, light and moderate users were almost 3x times more likely to say that they rarely or never use social media outdoors compared to heavy platform users.
The relationship between social media usage and outdoor exposure could vary depending on multiple factors: preferences, habits, lifestyle, work, etc. However, the survey results highlight that more frequent users tend to use it outside more often, which suggests that heavy users engage with social media wherever they go with mobile phones. Due to the socialization, heavy platform users may be drawn to sharing outdoor experiences, social or otherwise.
Discussion:
Ultimately, the influence of social media on behaviors, as illuminated by our survey, bears mixed results and inconsistencies across the board:
- While social media use is likely to be associated with promoting unhealthy eating habits, heavy platform users presented an overall positive assessment of its influence on their dietary consumption.
- Heavy users may spend significant time engaging in sedentary activities while utilizing social media platforms. However, this behavior doesn’t necessarily translate to reduced physical activity overall.
- Excessive late-night social media use can result in poor sleep hygiene, yet the amount of sleep people reported did not seem significantly affected by heavy usage.
- Social media often provides a place for social activity and connection — and social media users, especially heavy users, report positive social behaviors and assessments of the role of social media in fostering social connection, yet heavy users were also more likely to report being lonely.
These mixed signals suggest that while social media has the potential to impact certain health behaviors negatively, its overall influence is complex and can vary based on individual experiences and usage patterns. This underscores the importance of personal agency in managing social media habits, empowering users to strive for a balanced approach that prioritizes their health and well-being. Furthermore, it presents an opportunity for social media platforms to facilitate more positive and empowering user experiences and support their health while cultivating a more accountable and ethical digital environment.
Acknowledgements:
Carla Perisinotto, Matthew Smith and Abigail Barth from the Foundation for Social Connection; Ben Leff, Amelia Goranson and Jake Rothschild from Verasight; Sara Singer from Stanford University and Building H’s Alec McMorris and Steve Downs all contributed to the development of the survey and/or the analysis of results.
Additional Reports:
Additional reports in this series include:
