Limiting Facebook, Instagram And Snapchat Will Make You Happier; But You Already Knew That
Tuesday, November 13, 2018 IST
A University of Pennsylvania study still insists that completely turning off social media use isn’t the answer, but the key lies in limiting how much time you spend on these apps and networks.
We have heard this before, but the point is being re-emphasized again. Cutting the time spent on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat will reduce the feelings of depression and loneliness. That is according to the newest research published by the University of Pennsylvania. The study titled “No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression, ” is based on researchers observations of 143 undergraduate students, over a period of three weeks.
As a part of the research, the students were randomly split into two groups. The first group was asked to limit social media usage on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to 10 minutes on each platform per day. Students were then asked to send researchers screenshots of the battery usage statistics on their iPhones, which shows how many minutes are spent on each app each day, to accurately track the usage of the social media apps. Post this, they were asked to fill up a survey which determined their mood. The second group could carry on with using social media apps as usual. Researchers noted that reducing the time spent on social media apps significantly reduced the depressive symptoms in the group that saw time limits set for Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
“It is a little ironic that reducing your use of social media actually makes you feel less lonely. 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,” says Melissa G. Hunt, associate director of clinical training in Penn’s Psychology Department, in the study. One of the reasons for the perceived increase in depression and stress levels after extensive social media usage is because of the content that you see there—people tend to show off a rather fancy, luxurious and glamorous lifestyle on social media. This leads to instances of comparison with one’s own real world lifestyle.
The study and the researchers stress that the idea is to not completely turn off social media, but to limit the time spent on it. The “No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression” study only looks at Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to determine human reactions to the content consumed there, and it isn’t clear if the same guidance would apply to other social media networks such as Twitter, for instance
Related Topics
Trending News & Articles
ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...
Recently posted . 211K views . 1 min read
If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...
Recently posted . 10K views . 2 min read
The Langya henipavirus has a place with a similar group of infections, including Nipah, which is known to kill up to 3/4 of people in extreme cases.
Recently posted . 5K views . 1 min read
Queen's death: The eldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 was the oldest heir apparent in British history, became king immediately...
Recently posted . 5K views . 1 min read
More in Global
LONDON: Goodbye, your royal highnesses. Hello, life as - almost - ordinary civilians.
Recently posted. 727 views . 0 min read
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) calculated that the global rate of female homicide victims stood at around 1.3 victims per 100,000 female pop...
Recently posted. 973 views . 1 min read
We all have heard of it – An international road trip from India to Thailand. Some of us have even watched it on Tv shows or web series.But when it comes down ...
Recently posted. 889 views . 1 min read
Recently posted . 881 views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 1K views . 49 min read
Recently posted . 3K views . 67 min read
An Indian woman, who lost her residency rights in the US following the murder of her techie husband in a suspected hate crime, can stay in t...
Recently posted. 915 views . 3 min read
When we see images of Earth from space, we see a big blue planet, with some brown terrain. This is our home, the only planet we can survive on.
Recently posted. 872 views . 1 min read