Excessive social media 'negatively impacts wellbeing'

Excessive social media use is linked to lower wellbeing, with evidence showing that more time spent on social media corresponds to greater loss of wellbeing. Countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK show a dramatic drop in under-25s wellbeing over the past decade, coinciding with social media growth. The reasons for the stronger impact in the Western world are not fully known. Social media platforms are designed to maintain engagement, which can intensify time spent. A fitness creator describes social media as an opportunity and a positive space, while also noting the emotional effect of negative comments and the need to build resilience through experience.

"“If you use social media for an hour a day, that's great, you're being connected,” says Michael Plant, Research Fellow at the Wellbeing Research Centre. “But the report did show a correlation between, the more time you spend on social media the greater loss of wellbeing.” Though the report does not know why the Western world is more impacted, it found that under 25s wellbeing in countries like United States, Canada, Australia and UK has dropped dramatically over the past decade - the same time social media has grown."

"“I was originally skeptical about the negativity on social media, but the evidence is mounting up,” Plant continues. “So young people are not smoking, they're not taking drugs, having lots of sex like my generation but they do have social media. ”And the platforms are designed to maintain engagement,” he added."

"“I tend to block out the negative comments, I've had four years worth of practice to build the resilience. ”But you know, you'll get 100 positive comments and it doesn't sink in but then you get one negative comment and it feels personal a"

Read at www.bbc.com