A Stanford University study paid over 35,000 people to deactivate either Instagram or Facebook for 6 weeks.
They were measurably happier, less anxious, and less depressed.
• Facebook users saw a 6% improvement in emotional well-being
• Instagram users saw a 4% improvement
The researchers found that:
• Quitting Facebook was 15% as effective as therapy
• Quitting Instagram: 22% as effective
• Both eliminated over half of this election-related stress.
These people didn’t stop using their phones.
They just switched to other apps.
Instagram users shifted almost all their time to other apps.
Facebook users only spent 9 minutes less on their phones per day.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
Dunno. I’d read that research as Facebook and insta made little difference either way, people just found other ways to waste time in their lives using tech. They slight increase in happiness could be because they were being paid simply not to us FB.
Like me, forcing my opinions on other nbf readers while in the shopping queue. Yeah I’m miserable, but at least I’m aware of it.
I have a weird feeling that between 2035 and 2037, things like Facebook and Instagram/Facebook/TikTok, X, etc and all the short form content, will have gone the way of the dinosaurs and will not ever be replaced by anything worse or even remotely similar. And I hope I’m correct. I know photos also cause issue, but [to me] it’s not nearly as toxic as other social media content (though photos can still definitely have negative impacts depending upon what they are).
Be interesting to know if there were significant age and gender differentials. I’d bet women and especially young women have by far the worst susceptibility to negative mental health as well as deleterious behavioral outcomes as a result of using social media owing to greater evolved innate obsession with displays of hierarchy and status.