Social Media: Friend or Foe?

A look at the contradictory research coverage

There’s been a bevy of new research and articles detailing said research claiming to debunk earlier findings proposing social media is bad for our mental health. Undoubtedly, like any other form of research, some of it is good and some of it is not-so-good. So how do we figure out what’s accurate and what isn’t to make an informed decision about social media use?

Like most dilemmas in life, the answer is complicated, convoluted, and complex. I’ll just be scratching the surface of a body of knowledge that will continue to grow and change. Here is where I think we are currently:

Correlation does not equal causation:

This is a major rule of research and one that isn’t always conveyed when moving from scientific language to layman’s terms. There may be a connection between two concepts but that doesn’t mean the connection represents cause and effect. This seems to be where some research is diverging on social media negatively, positively, or neutrally impacting mental health.

A study published in 2017 reports a link between increased depression and social media use amongst adolescents. This study was based on national survey data between 2010 and 2015. What was found is a link between social media use and increased depression indicators, particularly in females. The researchers, themselves, recognize that there may be a limitation regarding the effects of the great recession on mental health and leave that open for further study. More on that later.

Another study from early this year directly addresses the above findings with a different method of study by tracking the same participants over years, rather than using data compared across diverse participants at different stages in life. While the sample was smaller, the same people were being tracked over time and their social media use examined alongside depression indicators. Social media use was not found to predict depression. The opposite was found for adolescent females; increased depression predicted amplified social media use.

So which comes first? The chicken or the egg? Does social media and mental health truly have any relation?

Consider differences in study participants:

As the 2017 study mentioned above indicated, there is a question of role the recession plays into how increased mental health problems and social media have risen together. Hampton asserts that much of the focus of research on this topic being based around a younger generation which has developed the negative view of social media. He sees it as ignoring the residual impacts of certain events being faced by a generation that just happened to be occurring alongside the growth of social media.

His research released June 2019, which tracked the same sample of participants over time, indicated a reduction in psychological distress over time for adults. The reason? More connection to extended family. The only negative influence on psychological distress was related to family members also using social media increasing in psychological distress. Another study based on a small sample of young adults found benefits to social media use, particularly when kept to 30 minutes a day. Again, these findings directly contrast research done in the UK on children ages 10-15 that once seems to continue to assert that social media has a negative impact on the well-being of young girls.

Click on the link to the research:

I encourage clicking on those links to the real research when you read articles (don’t click on links that seem unsafe, of course!). As you can see above, the explanations of these lengthy studies have been reduced to a maximum of a few sentences like with many articles covering this and other research-based topics. Even articles dedicated to the review of one scientific study tend to have minuscule information in comparison to the full document.

Things to look for when you read the research article include:

• The number of participants. Higher numbers tend to be better. This may depend on the population and aim of study.
• How they were chosen. In an ideal world, participants would be chosen completely at random and represent the population as a whole on a smaller scale. Most studies don’t have this luxury but it is something to keep in mind.
• What the limitations were. There is typically a limitations section and that can give you a lead for where to look next if you still have more questions.
• How applicable the results are to the real world. Some researchers will explain the significance levels. Others will provide percentages and break them down. You can generally find the best information on this in the “discussion” or “conclusion” section.
• A statement about conflicts of interest. This could be something like a social media platform paying for the research that says the platform improves mental health.

When it comes to a topic like your mental health and a behavior you can choose to control like using social media, you should become informed by the research. Further, if you have children and are concerned by the findings, get to know more about it so you can make informed decisions for their use. People like myself are out there trying to provide the most information to you in the fastest consumable way possible. This is a helpful start but you can take it further to truly understand what you’re looking at.

My thoughts on social media and mental health

Like the majority of things in life, I look at moderation as key. If you’re glued to your social media so much so that you’re missing out on social interaction in person, that needs some examining. Kushlev provides perspective on how media technology as a whole can interfere with this and other aspects of life. As earlier discussed, keeping social media reduced to a specific time frame might be useful in maintaining moderation while providing the desired level of connection. Develop rules for yourself such as no social media right before bedtime to keep it from disrupting your sleep .

It’s important not just to take in the research but also monitor yourself as well. You know you best, so keep a watch on what is good and what isn’t when it comes to your social media use. Some research suggests that being active on a social media platform rather than passively taking in the information is better for you, for example. Take what you learn about this topic and keep an eye on yourself to see if it rings true. If you find certain platforms, posts, or persons are negatively impacting your use of social media, consider changing how you’re interacting with these. If something is working for your betterment, maintain it. You can always do some researching to help find the information that fits your experience.

Finally, I believe there are some positive mental health uses of social media. For this blog I keep an Instagram account dedicated to positive postings related to the articles and mental wellness, for example. Social media has been a platform for reducing mental illness stigma and getting information about mental health resources out to the masses.

A new app, currently only available on IOS, called Kinde is focused on providing a supportive social media network around mental health. As I do not own an IPhone, I’ve not been able to explore the app personally, but the IrishExaminer provides a great article breaking down the experience using it. I’m hopeful this will be the start of a new generation of support and goodwill that can turn the tides in favor of positive social media interaction.

Be informed and take care of yourself out there in the connected, app-filled world of social media.

Works Cited

Booker, Cara L., et al. “Gender Differences in the Associations between Age Trends of Social Media Interaction and Well-Being among 10-15 Year Olds in the UK.” BMC Public Health, vol. 18, no. 1, 20 Mar. 2018, pp. 18–32., doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5220-4.

“Discover Mental Health Support or Inspo & Tell Your Story.” Kinde, wearekinde.com/.

Escobar-Viera, César G., et al. “Passive and Active Social Media Use and Depressive Symptoms Among United States Adults.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, vol. 21, no. 7, July 2018, pp. 437–443. ResearchGate, doi:10.1089/cyber.2017.0668.

Hampton, Keith N. “Social Media and Change in Psychological Distress Over Time: The Role of Social Causation.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 21 June 2019, pp. 1–18. Oxford Academic, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmz010.

Heffer, Taylor, et al. “The Longitudinal Association Between Social-Media Use and Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents and Young Adults: An Empirical Reply to Twenge Et Al. (2018).” Clinical Psychological Science, vol. 7, no. 3, 29 Jan. 2019, pp. 462–470. SAGE Journals, doi:10.1177/2167702618812727.

Hunt, Melissa, et al. “No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression.” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, vol. 37, no. 10, Dec. 2018, pp. 751-768. Guilford Press, https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751

Examiner, Irish. “A New Social Media Platform Has Launched for People Who Want to Talk about Their Mental Health.” Irish Examiner, Irishexaminer.com, 10 July 2019, www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/healthandlife/a-new-social-media-platform-has-launched-for-people-who-want-to-talk-about-their-mental-health-935997.html.

Kushlev, K. “Media technology and well-being: A complementarity-interference model.” In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay (Eds.), Handbook of well-being. Salt Lake City, UT: DEF Publishers. DOI:nobascholar.com

Levenson, Jessica C., et al. “The Association between Social Media Use and Sleep Disturbance among Young Adults.” Preventive Medicine, vol. 85, 11 Jan. 2016, pp. 36–41. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.01.001.

Michigan State University. “Can Facebook Improve Your Mental Health?” MSUToday, 26 June 2019, msutoday.msu.edu/news/2019/can-facebook-improve-your-mental-health/.

Twenge, Jean M., et al. “Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time.” Clinical Psychological Science, vol. 6, no. 1, 14 Nov. 2017, pp. 3–17., doi:10.1177/2167702617723376.

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