How does social media affect psychology?

How does social media affect psychology?

A large body of research suggests that spending too much time on social media harms children's brain development, but what a new scientific study warns of is that even middle-aged adults are "significantly" more likely to develop depression if they are social media users. According to the British Daily Mail.

Harvard researchers have discovered that adults feel more frustrated and depressed if they use platforms that younger people like, like TikTok and Snapchat, possibly because they make them feel old.

The researchers surveyed 5400 American adults, average age 56, twice: first in May 2020 and again a year later. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that included questions about mental health and about the social media they used.

Corona pandemic

"People who were using Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat said they were more depressed when filling out the questionnaire the second time," the study's lead author, Professor Roy Perlis, told NBC News.

But the researchers did not rule out the possibility that depressed people may be more likely to enter social media, perhaps as an escape, and the surveys were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, during which depression rates rose anyway.

One year after the first survey, 482 (9%) of the participants showed a clinically significant deterioration in their mental health, and scored higher for potential signs of depression, according to the study findings, published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

Facebook unlike tik tok and snapchat

The researchers reported that middle-aged Snapchat users were twice as likely to report feeling depressed as their peers who did not use the platform, and older TikTok users were one and a half times more likely to report feeling depressed than their non-user peers.

But the opposite was true for Facebook, where the results indicated that people under the age of 35 feel depressed two and a half times more.

One theory is that people may feel out of place by using social media, which is inappropriate for their age, leading them to feel out of sync. This theory is based on the fact that the majority of Snapchat users are mainly under the age of 35, and the largest proportion of Tik Tok users are younger, as the data indicates that most of them are in their twenties. Whereas, Facebook has a larger number of older users.

Facebook unlike tik tok and snapchat

The researchers reported that middle-aged Snapchat users were twice as likely to report feeling depressed as their peers who did not use the platform, and older TikTok users were one and a half times more likely to report feeling depressed than their non-user peers.

But the opposite was true for Facebook, where the results indicated that people under the age of 35 feel depressed two and a half times more.

One theory is that people may feel out of place by using social media, which is inappropriate for their age, leading them to feel out of sync. This theory is based on the fact that the majority of Snapchat users are mainly under the age of 35, and the largest proportion of Tik Tok users are younger, as the data indicates that most of them are in their twenties. Whereas, Facebook has a larger number of older users.

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