How Social Media Affect your Well-Being
Social Media are everywhere around us. Is their influence good or bad?
In the 21st century, social media have replaced a big part of the collective structure. It's easier for us to create a new digital world every time something goes wrong instead of trying to face it.
Social Media Usage
Social Networking Sites (SNS) have become a ubiquitous part of our lives. We use them almost on daily basis and there is nothing indicating this will stop any time soon.
As of March of 2018:
- 68% of adults in the United States had a Facebook account.
- 75% of these people reported using Facebook on a daily basis.
- 78% of young adults (ages 18–24) used Snapchat.
- 71% of young adults used Instagram.
Well Being and Social Media
The widespread adoption of social media has prompted a flurry of correlational studies on the relationship between social media use and mental health.
- Self-reported Facebook and Instagram usage have been found to correlate positively with symptoms of depression, both directly and indirectly.
- Higher usage of Facebook has been found to be associated with lower self-esteem as well as greater loneliness.
- Higher usage of Instagram is correlated with body image.
- Relationship found between Facebook use and depressive symptoms.
Limiting Social Media Usage
A recent research-backed experiment tried limiting social media usage on a mobile phone to 10 minutes per platform per day for a full three weeks. This resulted in a significant impact on well-being.
- Both loneliness and depressive symptoms declined in the experimental group.
- With respect to depression, the intervention was most impactful for those who started the study with higher levels of depression.
- Subjects who started out with moderately severe depressive symptoms saw declines down to the mild range by the simple expedient of limiting social media use for three weeks.
- Even subjects with lower levels of depression saw a statistically significant improvement as a result of cutting down on social media.
- Subjects saw a decline in both fear of missing out and anxiety.
Conclusion
The results from the experiment strongly suggest that limiting social media usage does have a direct and positive impact on subjective well-being over time, especially with respect to decreasing loneliness and depression.
The first study to establish a clear causal link between decreasing social media use, and improvements in loneliness and depression.
It is ironic, but perhaps not surprising, that reducing social media, which promised to help us connect with others, actually helps people feel less lonely and depressed.
Findings strongly suggest that limiting social media use to approximately 30 minutes per day may lead to significant improvement in well-being.
Conversation Note
How much time do you spend on social media daily? How has this affected your mood?
Let me know in the comments!
Sources
- No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Melissa G. Hunt, Rachel Marx — 2018
- Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II
- Donnelly, E., & Kuss, D. J. (2016). Depression among users of Social Networking Sites (SNSs): The role of SNS addiction and increased usage
- Kalpidou, M., Costin, D., & Morris, J. (2011). The relationship between Facebook and the well-being of undergraduate college students
- Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D.S., Lin., N., . . . & Ybarra, O. (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults
- Lup, K., Trub, L., & Rosenthal, L. (2015). Instagram #Instasad?: Exploring associations among Instagram use, depressive symptoms, negative social comparison, and strangers followed
- Przybylski, A. K., Murayama, K., DeHaan, C. R., & Gladwell, V. (2013) Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of fear of missing out.
- Rosen, L. D., Whaling, K., Rab, S., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2013). Is Facebook creating ‘‘iDisorders’’? The link between clinical symptoms of psychiatric disorders and technology use, attitudes, and anxiety
- Song, H., Zmyslinski-Seelig, A., Kim, J., Drent, A., Victor, A., Omori, K., & Allen, M. (2014). Does Facebook make you lonely?: A meta-analysis.
- Tandoc, E. C., Jr., Ferrucci, P., & Duffy, M. (2015). Facebook use, envy, and depression among college students: Is Facebooking depressing?
- Tromholt, M. (2016). The Facebook experiment: Quitting Facebook leads to higher levels of well-being
Writer Bio
My name is Georgio Ziozas. I come from sunny Greece, 25 years old.
I refer to myself as Knowledge Gangster. Maybe here lies the reason i used this name for my medium publication.
Knowledge Gangster pub focus: Brief, Credible & Simply Explained Research-based Knowledge.
Nothing fascinates me more than acquiring new knowledge, reading philosophy, using technology to make our world a better place, and watching Lord of the Rings.
Some words about my life course so far:
- I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science & Information Technologies from, University of Aegean.
- Currently studying for Master Degree in Cyber Security & Business Analytics from, University of Peiraeus.
- Member of a new groundbreaking crypto social media platform called, Bitclout. As a content creator there i write in three columns (‘Daily Dose of Knowledge’, ‘Daily Dose of Philosophy,’ ‘Daily dose of Statistics’). It’s a project you must jump in.
- Starting my own Newsletter on Substack soon.
- Also writing on: Bitclout101 Publication -All about Bitclout-.
