The Effect of Social Media on Well-being Differs from Adolescent to Adolescent

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Prior research into the effects of social media on the wellbeing of adolescents has grouped their findings by gender and age, reporting weak trends that likely obscure a diverse range of individual experiences. While investigating the unique ways individuals differ in susceptibility, a 2020 study from the Netherlands discovered that associations between social media use and wellbeing indeed varies from person to person.

The weeklong study was conducted among 63 adolescents, ages 14 and 15. Six times per day, this cohort individually completed a survey that assessed recent social media use and how happy they felt at the time of the survey. In their discussion of the results, researchers note that most adolescents do not experience short-term changes in wellbeing related to social media use. More private platforms such as WhatsApp even tended to enhance feelings of happiness. 

However, a subset of individuals experienced lower levels of wellbeing in association with passive use of social media (i.e. time spent viewing content but not actively communicating). In light of this, researchers advocate for further investigation into the long-term consequences of social media use for individuals who are already susceptible in the short-term. Such research, they say, should be front and center for prevention and intervention programs.

Beyens, I., Pouwels, J.L., van Driel, I.I. et al. The effect of social media on well-being differs from adolescent to adolescent. Sci Rep 10, 10763 (2020).