Social media use has been associated with both positive and negative effects on mental health. While it can provide opportunities for connection, it may also elicit self-presentation pressures and social comparison behaviors.
Fear of missing out (FOMO), a pervasive apprehension that others are having rewarding experiences while one is absent, is one mechanism by which social media use may negatively impact well-being. FOMO may drive excessive social media engagement and heighten the effects of unfavorable social comparisons.
Mikami, A. Y., Khalis, A., & Karasavva, V. (2024). Logging out or leaning in? Social media strategies for enhancing well-being. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001668
Key Points
- Both an intervention to change how people engage with social media (tutorial) and encouraging abstinence from social media improved some problematic social media behaviors and psychological well-being compared to a control group over 6 weeks.
- The abstinence intervention was most effective at reducing quantity of social media use and social comparisons. The tutorial intervention uniquely reduced FOMO and loneliness.
- The study has some limitations including predominantly measuring negative indicators of well-being and having inconsistent measurement of perceived helpfulness across conditions.
- Changing how emerging adults use social media may be a promising alternative approach to abstinence for improving well-being.
Rationale
Social media use is widespread among emerging adults, raising concerns about potential negative effects on well-being (Pew Research Center, 2024).
Most work aiming to combat these negative effects has focused on reducing quantity of use (Kross et al., 2021).
However, heterogeneity exists in the associations between social media use and well-being (Valkenburg et al., 2021), possibly due to differences in how people engage with social media.
Usage may provide opportunities for social connection but also elicit self-presentation pressures that increase social comparisons (Kross et al., 2021).
Little work has explored coaching users to change the way they engage with social media to maximize benefits and minimize downsides as an alternative to abstinence.
Emerging adults reporting some psychopathology may be most sensitive to both positive and negative effects (Naslund et al., 2020).
This study compared the impact of a social media engagement tutorial, an abstinence intervention, and a control condition on social media behaviors and psychological well-being in at-risk emerging adults.
Method
The study randomly assigned 393 emerging adult social media users reporting elevated psychopathology symptoms and perceiving some negative impact of social media to either a tutorial intervention to improve social media engagement, an abstinence intervention, or a control condition.
Participants’ social media behaviors and psychological well-being were assessed via self-report and tracking at four timepoints over 6 weeks.
Procedure
Participants attended an initial online study visit to complete baseline measures, install a phone screen time tracking app, and view their first of three 15-minute intervention modules based on their assigned condition (tutorial, abstinence, or control).
They completed follow-up measures and viewed the next module at timepoints 2 weeks and 4 weeks later.
The final timepoint 6 weeks after baseline included measures but no module.
Sample
Participants were 393 emerging adults aged 17-29 (mean age 20.93) living in Canada. Most identified as cisgender women and East Asian, White, Southeast Asian, or South Asian.
They were recruited from a university psychology subject pool and community advertisements.
Measures
- Quantity of social media use: Measures the amount of time spent on social media platforms through both objective phone tracking data and self-reported estimates.
- Multidimensional Facebook Intensity Scale: Assesses excessive and addictive Facebook usage patterns.
- Passive and Active Use Measure: Evaluates the extent of active social media use (on one’s own page, friends’ pages, and other pages) and passive use (scrolling and browsing).
- Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure: Measures the overall frequency of engaging in social comparisons.
- Social Comparison Rating Scale: Assesses the tendency to make upward (comparing oneself to those perceived as better off) or downward (comparing oneself to those perceived as worse off) social comparisons.
- Fear of Missing Out Scale: Measures the extent to which individuals experience apprehension that others are having rewarding experiences while they are absent.
- UCLA Loneliness Scale: Assesses subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation.
- Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21: Measures symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, collectively referred to as internalizing symptoms.
- Eating Disorders Inventory-2: Evaluates attitudes and behaviors associated with eating disorders, specifically the drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction subscales.
Statistical Measures
Multilevel growth curve modeling tested condition effects on the trajectory of outcomes over the 4 timepoints.
Multiple mediation models examined if condition effects on well-being were mediated by changes in social media behaviors. ANOVAs compared conditions on feasibility/acceptability metrics.
Results
Compared to control, the abstinence condition had the greatest reductions in quantity of social media use, intensity of use, active and passive use, and total social comparisons.
The tutorial condition also reduced these outcomes relative to control, but not as much as abstinence did.
Only the tutorial condition reduced FOMO and loneliness relative to control. Only the abstinence condition reduced internalizing symptoms relative to control.
There were no condition effects on tendency toward upward vs. downward comparisons or eating pathology.
Mediation models suggested the abstinence condition improved well-being relative to control through reductions in problematic social media behaviors; this mediation was not found for tutorial vs. control.
Insight
This study provides insight into different approaches for addressing the negative effects of social media use on well-being in at-risk emerging adults.
Coaching people to engage with social media in ways that build connection appears to reduce FOMO and loneliness, while abstaining from social media seems uniquely beneficial for internalizing symptoms.
The findings extend previous work by demonstrating an alternative to abstinence focused on changing usage patterns.
Future research could explore longer-term effects, include positive well-being indicators, and extend to adolescent populations.
Implications
The findings suggest clinicians working with emerging adults who report negative impacts of social media on their mental health could consider either supporting them in a time-limited abstinence period or using a tutorial approach to coach intentional, connection-promoting engagement as alternatives to address depressive symptoms, FOMO, and loneliness.
The online, self-guided nature of the tutorial and abstinence interventions points to their potential for broad dissemination.
Strengths
The study had methodological strengths including:
- Random assignment to conditions
- Inclusion of both university and community participants
- Objective screen time tracking measure in addition to self-report
- 6-week study duration longer than most experiments on this topic
Limitations
This study also had methodological limitations, including:
- The outcome measures focused predominantly on negative rather than positive indicators of well-being.
- The perceived helpfulness of interventions was measured inconsistently across conditions.
- The observational measure of social media interactions could not be used due to low variability.
- Most participants were cisgender women which may limit generalizability.
References
Primary reference
Mikami, A. Y., Khalis, A., & Karasavva, V. (2024). Logging out or leaning in? Social media strategies for enhancing well-being. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001668
Other references
Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Sheppes, G., Costello, C. K., Jonides, J., & Ybarra, O. (2021). Social media and well-being: Pitfalls, progress, and next steps. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(1), 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.10.005
Naslund, J. A., Bondre, A., Torous, J., & Aschbrenner, K. A. (2020). Social media and mental health: Benefits, risks, and opportunities for research and practice. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 5(3), 245–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-020-00134-x
Pew Research Center. (2024). Social media fact sheet. Retrieved April 16, 2024, from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
Valkenburg, P. M., Beyens, I., Pouwels, J. L., van Driel, I. I., & Keijsers, L. (2021). Social media use and adolescents’ self-esteem: Heading for a person-specific media effects paradigm. Journal of Communication, 71(1), 56–78. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqaa039
Keep Learning
- How might the study’s findings differ if conducted with adolescents or older adults? What developmental factors could influence receptivity to the tutorial vs. abstinence approaches?
- The study focused on Instagram and Facebook use. How might the effects of abstinence vs. changed engagement look different for other social media platforms popular with this age group, like TikTok or BeReal?
- This study occurred largely during the COVID-19 pandemic. In what ways might the pandemic context have impacted the results? How would you expect the findings to compare in non-pandemic times?
- If you were designing a follow-up study, what additional outcome measures would you want to include to gain a fuller picture of the interventions’ effects on well-being?
- How would you go about testing the long-term effectiveness and feasibility of either the tutorial or abstinence approach? What challenges would you anticipate with a longer study duration?
