Scientists have found that reducing social media use by as little as 15 minutes a day can significantly improve mental and physical health.
The study, published recently in the Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, examined the effects on physical health and psychological functioning of getting people to reduce their social media usage by 15 minutes a day for a period of three months.
Researchers, including those from Swansea University in the UK, compared the outcomes to groups that were not asked to reduce their usage or were explicitly asked to do something other than social media during those 15 minutes.
In the study, 50 participants (33 female and 17 male), aged 20–25, answered monthly questions about their health and psychological function and also provided weekly reports on their social media usage.
The findings revealed that the group asked to reduce their social media use had fewer colds, flu, warts, and verrucae, a 50 per cent improvement in sleep quality, and 30 per cent fewer depressive symptoms.
Researchers say the improvements were significantly greater than those experienced by the other two groups.
Those asked to reduce their usage ended up doing so by about 40 minutes a day, rather than the 15 minutes requested, scientists said, adding that the group asked to not make any changes showed a daily 10-minute increase in social media use.
The group that was specifically asked to do something other than social media for those 15 minutes ended up increasing their overall usage by around 25 minutes a day, scientists said.
“These data demonstrate that, when people reduce their social media use, their lives can improve in many ways – including benefits for their physical health and psychological well-being,” study co-author Phil Reed from Swansea University said.
However, scientists say it remains to be validated whether the relationship between social media use and health factors is a direct causal one, or if changes in factors like depression, or increase in physical activity, mediate it.
“That the group asked to reduce their usage and do something different did not show these benefits suggests that campaigns to make people healthier could avoid telling people how to use their time,” Dr Reed said.
“They can resent it. Instead, give them the facts, and let them deal with how they make the reduction, rather than telling them to do something more useful – it may not be effective,” he added.
