Reflections on Limiting Social Media Use and Mental Health

Abstract

The relationship between social media use and mental health has been well documented. A study by Bradley et al. (2023) examined whether reducing social media use to 30 minutes per day would improve mental health, but found no significant improvements, partly due to participants’ lack of adherence to study instructions. The current study examines qualitative responses to an open-ended reflection question from participants of this previous study. Most participants struggled to limit their social media use, largely because of benefits social media use provided and perceived consequences of not using social media. Many participants wanted to limit their social media use, despite most failing to do so during the study. Participants who did limit their social media use experienced improved mental health when limiting. Additionally, many participants had negative opinions about social media use, such as increasing social comparison, though positive and mixed opinions were also reported. This study suggests social media use limiting interventions may not be viable, and that different types of social media use must also be considered. Additionally, research viewing social media use as only having negative impacts is inaccurate; this study demonstrates that there is a continuum of effects it may have.