 |
| Being Social: Lessening social media usage, lowers depression and loneliness, study finds |
Reducing Social Media use lowers depression
and loneliness, new experiment discloses
Everyone is aware of the fact that social media impacts our
emotional and mental health, but little efforts has been made by researchers to
clearly understand the link between two. Few attempts in past have tried to
show the negative effects of social media on users’ well-being either by a
simple survey trusting self-report data or with the help of correlative studies,
tossing participants in impractical conditions, forcing them to completely relinquish
social media use.
However these non-experimental endeavors are now dimmed by a
new research, led by Melissa G. Hunt, Associate Director at University of
Pennsylvania, with a motive to directly establish relationship between high social
media activity and poor emotional state, according to study published in Journal ofSocial and Clinical Psychology dated November, 2018.
“We are set out to do a much more comprehensive and arduous
study that is also more ecologically valid” speaks Hunt. In
the experiment, 143 undergraduates at The University of Pennsylvania, went through
baseline monitoring for a week. Afterwards they were randomly allocated into
two groups, first was experimental group, advised to limit their social media (Instagram,
Facebook and Snapchat) use of each app to 10 mins per day and other one named
control group assigned to spent time on social media platform as usual.
 |
| FOMO: Reduction in social media usage lowers Fear of Missing Out |
After 3 weeks of monitoring, reductions in loneliness and
depression were shown by experimental or the limited use group, compared to the
control group, researchers noticed. Both groups, however, presented noteworthy reductions
in fear of missing out or FOMO and anxiety over baseline period. Although, no
improvements were displayed in scores like self-esteem and social support by
either group.
“Here’s the bottom line, lowering social media time then you
usually would guides to significant reduction in both depression and loneliness.
These efforts are particularly pronounced for folks who were more depressed
when they came into study”, says M. Hunt. The findings don’t restricts 18-22
years old from using social media, but reducing screen time on social media
could be beneficial, stresses Hunt.
In case you miss: Anxious throughout the day? Maybe you are not getting enough sleep
In case you miss: Anxious throughout the day? Maybe you are not getting enough sleep
The study establishes a casual and straightforward link between
less social media use and improved emotional aspects. As the research was
Facebook, Instagram and Snap-chat oriented, it is unclear whether the result
could be applied upon other social networking sites. It is also not established if these findings are applicable on other age groups and unfamiliar situations and settings, Hunt
speculates.
The researchers, however, understands the limited scope of
their findings and offers numerous suggestions for colleagues in this field to
continue what they have started. Longer experimental periods upon diverse
population with their comprehensive follow ups not restricted to a few social
media platforms would certainly take this experiment to a new levels.
1. Citations
and Sources: Melissa G.
Hunt, Rachel Marx, Courtney Lipson, Jordyn Young. No More FOMO:
Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression. Journal
of Social and Clinical Psychology, DOI: 10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751
0 Comments: