Social media unfairly antagonised? Study says there's no big link with poor mental health

Study debunks the popular association of poor mental health with social media with its surprising findings.

Social media has always been a point of contention, sparking debates on its negative impact on mental health. More often than not, it is vilified for contributing to stress, anxiety, depression and many other mental health issues. But a study published in Social Science & Medicine takes a step back from this narrative.

The researchers point out that most of the studies are assessed on the basis of self-reported data (the data the participants themselves provide instead of scientific observation and deduction.) The participants can have a skewed understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between social media and mental health, overestimating the negative effects. The self-reported data can be unreliable. With this take, the study offers a new perspective.

New perspective

The study puts forward a new perspective with its findings. The researchers instead of self-reported data tracked the social media usage of all the participants for one week. Apart from that the study, participants also completed cognitive tasks and mental health questionnaires.

The result was different from all the previous studies that established a non-negotiable correlation between social media and poor mental health. The study found that spending time on social media, like Instagram or Facebook, doesn't have a big impact on mental health. It showed that there is no strong link between how much time people spend on these platforms and feelings of anxiety, depression, or stress.

Although, there was a very small connection between using social media and feeling anxious, but it was so small (1.5%) that it doesn't make a big difference.

Surprising revelation

The study found that social media improved attention span by a bit. (Shutterstock)

Conventionally it is believed that social media impairs attention span. However, this study finding reveals a noteworthy finding that challenges the previous notions.

Study author Chloe N. Jones spoke to Psypost, “One surprising finding was that the relationship between social media use and attentional control, though small, was positive, challenging the common assumption that social media negatively impacts attentional control.”

As per this study, social media use actually seemed to help people focus a little bit more. This was particularly true for people who used TikTok. Social media might not be as bad for our attention as many previously assumed.

Social media has often been blamed as the sole cause of poor mental health, but the reality is more complex. There's no single origin for anything; it's a multifaceted issue with many contributing factors. media usage alone cannot be responsible for mental health issues; many other factors contribute as well. The study is refreshing as it revaluates social media's impact from a new vantage.

Disclaimer:This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.