“heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness”

Question

I decided to fact check the claim,“heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness”. While I already believe this claim to be true, I  still chose to factcheck it to eliminate any of my previous opinions. As I began to read the rest of the claim, I noticed that this person linked an article and a 2017 survey by the Royal Society for Public Health. This survey showed that 91% of 16-24 year olds use the internet for social networking, then going on to show that the rates of anxiety and depression have increased 70% in the past 25 years. The article also says how, “Youngsters report problems with anxiety, depression, sleep, and FoMo”, also including a negative/positive graph of how Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter effect 14-24 year olds well being. And if this isn’t enough information on how social media links to mental illness, I found an article published by Stanford saying how, “the 12-month prevalence of major depressive episodes among adolescents increased from 8.7% in 2005 to 11.3% in 2014”. It’s safe to say from this article, previously fact checked articles, and the Royal Society for Public Health survey, that social media is definitely linked to the increased rates of mental illness.

Answer 1

Stanford Law School is accurate in their claim that heavy use of social media deteriorates mental health, as it has been proven by Oxford Departmental Lecturer and Honorary Researcher Esteban Ortiz-Ospina (author) to have the following effects:  “from rising suicide rates in the US, to widespread loss in memory, and reduced sleep and attention spans (Are Facebook and other social media platforms bad for our well-being? - Our World in Data). This article cited more proof of detrimental effects of social media use that was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2017: “It used data from a survey that tracked a group of 5,208 Americans over the period 2013 - 2015, and found an increase in Facebook activity was associated with a future decrease in reported mental health.” Aside from my personal experiences reinforcing this claim, the National Library of Medicine published a beautiful and accurate article on 28 March 2023 that articulates the correlation vs. causation of social media consumption and mental illness. Their paper Link between excessive social media use and psychiatric disorders - PMC states that, “The use of social networks is strongly correlated with the development of anxiety and other psychological problems such as depression, insomnia, stress, decreased subjective happiness, and a sense of mental deprivation. The majority of the cited literature predicts that the likelihood of social media-induced mental health problems is directly proportional to the amount of time spent on these sites, the frequency of usage, and the number of platforms being used. Various possible explanations have been implicated, including a negative impact on self-esteem through unhealthy comparisons, social media burnout, stress, lack of emotional regulation due to social media preoccupation, and development of social anxiety due to decreased real-life social interactions.” I couldn’t have said it better myself, which is why the claim that “heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness” has been proven true.