Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
Life

Social Media Use May Up Depression, Loneliness: Study

Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Nov, 2018 08:41 PM
    Spending too much time on social media sites like Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram can impact your well-being, making you depressed and lonely, a study has found.
     
     
    The study by researchers from the experimental study of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram use showed a causal link between the time spent on the platforms and decreased well-being. Few prior studies have attempted to show that social media use harms users' well-being. 
     
     
    However, those studies were either limited in scope or have put participants in unrealistic situations, asking them to completely forego Facebook and relying on self-report data, for example, or conducting the work in a lab in as little time as an hour.
     
     
    "We set out to do a much more comprehensive, rigorous study that was also more ecologically valid," said Melissa G Hunt, an associate director at University of Pennsylvania in the US.
     
     
    Researchers designed their experiment to include the three platforms most popular with a cohort of undergraduates, and then collected objective usage data automatically tracked by smartphones for active apps, not those running the background.
     
     
    Each of the 143 participants completed a survey to determine mood and well-being at the study's start, and shared shots of their iPhone battery screens to offer a week's worth of baseline social-media data.
     
     
    Participants were then randomly assigned to a control group, which had users maintain their typical social-media behaviour, or an experimental group that limited time on Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram to 10 minutes per platform per day.
     
     
    For the next three weeks, participants shared smartphone battery screenshots to give the researchers weekly tallies for each individual.
     
     
    With those data in hand, researchers then looked at seven outcome measures including fear of missing out, anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
     
     
    "Using less social media than you normally would leads to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness. These effects are particularly pronounced for folks who were more depressed when they came into the study," Hunt said.
     
     
    She stresses that the findings do not suggest that 18- to 22-year-olds should stop using social media altogether. However, limiting screen time on these apps would not hurt.
     
     
    "Some of the existing literature on social media suggests there's an enormous amount of social comparison that happens. When you look at other people's lives, particularly on Instagram, it's easy to conclude that everyone else's life is cooler or better than yours," Hunt said.

    MORE Life ARTICLES

    Selfie obsession may cost you your job

    Selfie obsession may cost you your job
    According to a study, users who click too many 'selfies' not only reflect narcissistic traits but also demonstrate a lack of self-control to employers....

    Selfie obsession may cost you your job

    Sad tunes could lift your mood after a break-up

    Sad tunes could lift your mood after a break-up
    One can experience four different cognitive rewards of music-evoked sadness - reward of imagination, emotion regulation, empathy and no "real life" implications...

    Sad tunes could lift your mood after a break-up

    Early schooling hours not in tune with kids' sleep patterns

    Early schooling hours not in tune with kids' sleep patterns
    Early schooling hours could deprive teenagers of adequate sleep and hamper their academic performance, a study suggests....

    Early schooling hours not in tune with kids' sleep patterns

    Even 'agreeable' employees snap under stress

    Even 'agreeable' employees snap under stress
    Affected by job stress, "agreeable and conscientious" workers may resist the tendency to engage in counter-productive work behaviour (CWB),....

    Even 'agreeable' employees snap under stress

    Love and care influence brain's response to threat

    Love and care influence brain's response to threat
    Remembering the people who love and care for you can help one cope with stress because even recollections of emotional support reduces the...

    Love and care influence brain's response to threat

    Australians daring in bed but sex frequency sees a drop

    Australians daring in bed but sex frequency sees a drop
    Australians have become more adventurous in their sex life, says a new study, but adding that the couples are having sex less compared to 10 years ago....

    Australians daring in bed but sex frequency sees a drop