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Experts explained: Social media has no such effect!

byadmin
November 11, 2024

A new study from Curtin University in Australia has revealed that the impact of social media on mental health is not as great as we thought.

Scientists have suggested that excessive social media use has almost no impact on mental health. 
Many studies to date have found that social media negatively affects attention and focus, can disrupt children’s brain development and increase the risk of problems such as depression.

However, according to a new study conducted by Curtin University in Australia, the impact of these platforms on mental health may be more complex than previously thought.

Previous studies have generally relied on participants’ self-reported social media usage time.

However, this time, the research team at Curtin University objectively examined the time participants spent on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) over the course of a week by looking at data on their mobile phones. The study included 425 people between the ages of 17 and 53, and these periods were compared with anxiety, depression, stress and attention control tests.

The results of the study, published in the journal Social Science Medicine, revealed that there was no relationship between social media usage time and depression and stress, while there was only a weak relationship with anxiety. It was also observed that spending more time on social media slightly increased attention control.

The lead author of the study, Chloe Jones, stated that high-quality data is needed to make healthy decisions. “When we objectively measure the time spent on social media, we find that the effects are either very small or non-existent,” Jones said.

The researchers also noted that the effects of social media can vary depending on the platform used. For example, there was a small positive correlation between TikTok use and attention control, while Facebook use was observed to be associated with feelings of distress. Another author of the study, Patrick Clarke, stated that TikTok users are generally young and that they think this may be related to attention control, but this relationship continues even when age is taken into account.
The team emphasizes that the findings do not mean that social media is completely harmless. Jones stated that connecting with online communities can be supportive for individuals living isolated lives, but constantly scrolling through influencer pages can be harmful, especially for individuals with appearance anxiety.
Clarke also emphasized that these findings should not be misunderstood, noting that the study focused only on the time spent on social media, and therefore how one interacts with the platforms, rather than how much time is spent on social media, may be more important in terms of mental health.
byadmin
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