Do social media make you unhappy? The answer is not that simple

You may have seen headlines linking social media to sadness and depression. Social media use is increasing, happiness is decreasing. But recent studies suggest these findings may not be so simple.

While it is true that feelings of envy and depression in people are linked to high social media use, there is evidence that social media use may not depend so much on the extent to which people are at high risk for depression. cause that relationship. Instead, your mindset may be the biggest factor influencing how social media relates to your well-being.

People who feel like they can use social media, rather than “using” social media, tend to get more benefit from their online interactions.

Why do people use social media?

Social media includes a wide range of platforms: social networking, discussion forums, bookmarking and sharing content, spreading news, exchanging media such as photos and videos, and microblogging. These appeal to a wide range of users, from individuals of all ages to large corporations.

For some, social media is a way to connect with people we might not otherwise see. In the United States, 39% of people say yes are friends with people they only communicate with online.

For older adults, this is especially important for increasing feelings of connection and well-being. Interestingly enough, it is for older people Social media contact with family does not increase happiness. Meanwhile, younger adults report increased happiness if they have more social media contact with family members.

Teenagers in particular find social media the most useful deepening connections and building their social networks.

With social media clearly playing such an important role in society, many researchers have tried to find out: does it make us happier or not?

Do social media make us happier?

Studies have taken different approaches, including asking people directly through surveys or looking at the content people post and seeing how positive or negative it is.

A 2023 survey study found that as individuals’ use of social media increased, life satisfaction and happiness decreased. Another thought so less time on social media was related to an increase in job satisfaction, work engagement and positive mental health, thus improving mental health and motivation at work.

Comparing yourself to others on social media is linked to feelings of jealousy and depression. However, there is evidence to suggest that depression is the predictor, and not the outcome, of both social comparison and envy.

This all turns out the way you feeling on social media matters. People who see themselves using social media rather than being ‘used’ by it tend to benefit from social media and not experience the harm.

Interviews with young people (15-24 years) who use social media show that positive mental health among that age group was influenced by three features:

• connection with friends and their global community
• engagement with social media content
• the value of social media as an outlet for expression.

There are also studies looking at the emotions expressed by more frequent social media users.

The so-called “happiness paradox‘ shows that most people think their friends on social media seem happier than they do apparent impossibility that is caused by the mathematical properties of how friendship networks work on social media.

In one of our studies, Twitter content with captured locations showed residents of cities across the United States tweeted more tended to express less happiness.

On the other hand, direct messages on Instagram show that there is happiness four times more common than sadness.

How does internet use in general affect our well-being?

Some factors associated with decreased mental health are not just related to social media use.

One recent study shows that the path to reduced well-being is, at least in part, related to digital media use in general (rather than social media use specifically). This may be due to sleep disruption, reduced in-person social interaction or physical activity, social comparison and cyberbullying. None of these exist just for social media.

However, social media platforms are known to be powered by recommendation algorithms that can send us down ‘rabbit holes’ of the same kind of (increasingly extreme) content. This can lead to a distorted view of the world and our place in it. The key point here is to maintain a diverse and balanced information diet online.

Interestingly enough, interacting on social media is not the only thing that affects our mental state. Precipitation has an influence the emotional content of social media posts from both the user experiencing rain, and parts of their extended network (even if not experiencing rain!).

This suggests that how we feel is influenced by the emotions in the messages we see. The good news is that happy posts are the most influential, with each happy post encouraging almost two additional happy updates from a user’s friends.

Therefore, the secret to online happiness may not be “completely deleting your account” (which as we found, may not even be effective), but be mindful of what you consume online. And if you feel like social media is starting to wear on you, it might be time to make some changes.

This article is republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.