Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,
Social media use has once again been linked to loneliness and depression. Research has been hinting at the connection for several years, but scientists from the University of Pennsylvania say that this new study is the most comprehensive and rigorous to date.
Social media is not all bad, as not much really is, but most people tend to have a difficult time using their social media accounts in moderation. That, according to the new study, can leave a person’s mental state a little lacking. There are even therapies and rehabilitation for those who have an addiction to social media.
Ever since sites like Facebook and Instagram became part of daily life, scientists have wondered whether or not they could contribute to mental health problems. In fact, research has hinted at a connection between social media use and depression for several years, according to This Insider. We have reached a point where people have a hard time tearing away from their social media accounts.
Published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, the most recent study linking poor mental health conditions to social media use has added even more evidence to back up the theory. The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania intentionally designed their experiment to be more comprehensive than previous studies on the topic. Rather than relying on short-term lab data or self-reported questionnaires, they recruited 143 undergraduate students to share screenshots of their Phone battery screens over a week to collect data on how much they were using social media apps including Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.
According to an in-depth report on the study done by This Insider, subjects of the study were told either to maintain their typical social media behavior or limit it to 10 minutes per day. Alongside the screenshot data, the researchers also looked at how much the participants experienced fear of missing out, anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
“Here’s the bottom line,” said Melissa G. Hunt, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the study.
“Using less social media than you normally would lead to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness. These effects are particularly pronounced for folks who were more depressed when they came into the study,” said Hunt.
“It is a little ironic that reducing your use of social media actually makes you feel less lonely,” she added.
“Some of the existing literature on social media suggests there’s an enormous amount of social comparison that happens. When you look at other people’s lives, particularly on Instagram, it’s easy to conclude that everyone else’s life is cooler or better than yours.”
“If you spend most of your time scrolling through your newsfeed checking out other people’s lives and compare them to your own, you become more at risk of developing (or having worsening) symptoms of depression or anxiety,” psychologist Allison Abrams told Business Insider.
“This is especially so in those with low self-esteem.”
There are definitely physical and mental health benefits to a technology detox. The results suggest social media and screens should both be used in moderation; just like most things.
“When you’re not busy getting sucked into clickbait social media, you’re actually spending more time on things that are more likely to make you feel better about your life,” Hunt said.
“In general, I would say, put your phone down and be with the people in your life.”
Or…
Lonely and depressed people are drawn to social media?
You guys ARE the people in my life.
Funny. ‘Moderation’ jumped off the page.
Old adage “Everything in moderation; nothing to extreme” fits well for most indulgences.
But, for me, Re: social media, I’m tempted to say it’s become total abstinence, but that would be untruthful.
In the early days of dabbling on FB, it was cute and a convenient way to stay in touch w/ friends I was separate from by long distance.
But soon enough, I cancelled the account.
I saw at least 2 formerly good friendships go bad, when the printed comments and strong opinions were taken offensively, and then the gossip and smack talk intensified, to the point of taking sides.
That happened 5 to 8 years ago, and the rifts never healed.
That aspect, and the extreme amount of inconsequential, mundane post content left me with disdain, for having wasted my time in perusing what ‘friends’ made for dinner the night before, for examples too frequent.
I bailed out, when the privacy invasion aspect was realized, and have never missed it, or regretted it.
Numerous examples of being in a group photo with close friends, enjoying some activity. . . and then some idiot among the group decides to post the photo on SM. . . next, someone who wasn’t even present later inquires: “So, I guess you had a pretty good time doing X…
“Wait. You weren’t there. How did you find out about that?”
” X posted a picture on FB, and commented about how great of a time it was.”
WTF?? A private event just became very public. It’s now out there, for all to see. Non-Delete-able. Forever.
One need only go back to Friday Fail, on 11-9, to see a hideous example of this displayed.
And prospective employers seek that kind of data, to judge the character of a potential hire.
And Lord knows who else, among the black hats, have gathered the evidence, for future use / control.
By claiming my abstinence as untruthful, I have to acknowledge that this platform is similar in respects that, I habitually come here to ‘check in’, and see what’s being posted, commented on, and frequently engage in, with comments of my own.
And, even here, there is an element of that offensive and offended that occasionally rears it’s ugly head.
Yet, the mundane fluff is typically kept to a minimum, outweighed by rare truths and excellence of commentary and knowledge are found herein that places it far above what FB, Twitter, et. al. have become.
Most of the more popular social media has become too big, too powerful, too influential, and too slanted toward progressive mudslinging. The censorship of conservative content and shadow banning have only reaffirmed that it was a wise decision to get out of that arena.
THIS arena here, as maintained by Admin, is so much more valuable. Grateful for it. It’s become my Go To site.
new flash – staring into the mirror (social media) leads to loneliness, which leads to depression, which leads to anxiety, which leads to you primary care provider for a script to xanax, which leads to addiction and serotonin control issues, which leads to depression.
“Doc, I just can’t stand the voices in my head”
what are the voices telling you?
“they tell me orange man bad, whitey bad, the russians did it”
son, those voices are not in your head, you have been listening to state sponsored propaganda, try turning that shit off for a while, go read a book