There is only a small link between social media use and well-being—and even that partly comes down to genetics. So say Dutch researchers after examining data from more 6,000 people on a Netherlands twin registry.
They also found that more social media use wasn't always linked to negative traits. For instance, "flourishing was positively associated with having more social media accounts" and with more time spent on social media, they write in a paper for Behavior Genetics. "Although strong claims are often made on the negative effects of social media use on wellbeing" (here they point to Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation), "these are not substantiated in the current study."
