Is social media more harmful or helpful?

I'll weigh the evidence on whether social media does more harm than good — gathering research on both sides.

Social media is neither inherently harmful nor inherently helpful — its impact depends on how, how much, and who is using it.

> “Using social media is not inherently beneficial or harmful to young people.” — American Psychological Association Health Advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence (2023)

The effects are dependent on "adolescents’ own personal and psychological characteristics and social circumstances— intersecting with the specific content, features, or functions that are afforded within many social media platforms."

Research consistently finds both positive and negative effects coexist, so the question is best answered as: helpful in moderation with intentional use, harmful with excessive, passive or risky use.

How Social Media Can Be Helpful

1. Connection and Support
Some teenagers experience a benefit when they use social media to foster positive connections with others who share common interests or identities, creating a space for self-expression. Relationships formed in these communities can create opportunities for "positive interactions with more diverse peer groups than are available to them offline,"

Youth should be encouraged to use functions that create opportunities for social support, online companionship, and emotional intimacy that can promote healthy socialization. For young people who do not have support of a parent or trusted adult, social media provides an important place to find resources and peer support.

A 2022 Pew Research Center survey cited in the U.S. Surgeon General's advisory found a majority of teens felt social media helps them feel more accepted (58%), like they have people who can support them through tough times (67%), that they have a place to show their creative side (71%), and that they are more connected to friends’ lives (80%).

Moreover, social media can foster a sense of community and belonging, providing support networks for individuals with shared interests or experiences.

2. Learning, Creativity and Opportunity

•Access to information, collaborative learning, professional development, engagement and improved communication

•Enhanced learning, increased participation and engagement, and improved content dissemination, pedagogy and information sharing in higher education

•Social media proves to be a valuable resource for students in real-world applications, helping to connect and communicate with peers for resource sharing, collaborative learning, discussions, and constructive feedback

•Academic benefits include quick research, expert insights via YouTube tutorials, and networking for internships and jobs

Social media helps students learn and find jobs, and can provide authentic learning opportunities and personalized learning when used with moderation and caution.

How Social Media Can Be Harmful

1. Mental Health Risks
Since it's relatively new, there's little research to establish long-term consequences, however multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts.

Specific findings:

•Adults who spend 2.5 hours or more scrolling per day is linked to self-reported depression

•Adults who spent over 150 minutes per day on social media were more likely to report depression in a study of nearly 183,000 U.S. adults over 11 years

•Teens ages 12-15 who used social media over three hours each day faced twice the risk of having negative mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety symptoms

•Studies point to a higher relative concern of harm in adolescent girls and those already experiencing poor mental health, for outcomes such as cyberbullying-related depression, body image and disordered eating behaviors, and poor sleep quality

•A scoping review found a connection between social media use and depression, as well as other negative outcomes such as anxiety, poor sleep, low self-esteem, and social and appearance anxiety, with females showing higher depression symptoms than males

•Smartphone and social media use among teenagers are associated with an increase in mental distress, self-harming behaviours, and suicidality

The brain is going through a highly sensitive period between the ages of 10 and 19, when frequent social media use may be associated with distinct changes in the developing brain, potentially affecting emotional learning, impulse control, and emotional regulation.

2. Design and Behavioral Harms

Disadvantages commonly cited include:

•Social Media Addiction

•Enables Bullying and Harassment

•Promotes Social Isolation

•Causes Depression and Anxiety

Other risks:

•Exposure to "cyberhate" - aggressive, degrading, or discriminatory communication - predicts increases in anxiety and depressive symptoms

•Exposure to content that instructs or encourages health-risk behaviors such as self-harm or eating-disordered behavior should be minimized, as technology should not drive users to this content

•Algorithms built to promote whatever you seem interested in can feed teens more mental health-related content if they search for it, leading them to think everyone around them is depressed

•Excessive use has also been linked to sleep problems, attention problems, and feelings of exclusion, with a relationship between social media use and poor sleep quality, reduced sleep duration, and sleep difficulties in young people

•Excessive usage can negatively impact physical and mental health by disrupting sleep and increasing addiction

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy stated in 2023 there is growing evidence that social media is causing harm to young people's mental health, noting concerns about amount of time spent, type of content consumed, and disruption of activities essential for health, such as sleep and physical activity.

What Makes the Difference?

Research suggests outcome is not just screen time but how platforms are used:

•Social media use should be "preceded by training in social media literacies" to maximize chances for balanced, safe, and meaningful use

•Preliminary research suggests that a combination of social media limits and boundaries, and adult–child discussion and coaching, leads to the best outcomes for youth

•Adult monitoring is advised in early adolescence (10-14 years) with increased autonomy as kids gain digital literacy skills

•Design features such as like buttons and recommended content should be tailored to youths' developmental capabilities, as sites that use "like" buttons and AI to encourage excessive scrolling "may be dangerous for developing brains"

•Social media use should not interfere with sleep and physical activity, and should avoid social comparison around beauty and appearance

Bottom Line

For most people, moderate, active, and purposeful use (connecting with friends, learning communities like #BookTok, study groups, creative expression, support groups) tends to be helpful. Excessive, passive, or comparison-driven use (doomscrolling >2-3 hours daily, late-night use, following idealized body images, experiencing cyberbullying/hate) tends to be harmful.

If you use social media, strategies from the APA and Surgeon General to keep it more helpful than harmful include:

•Keep use under 2 hours/day and out of the bedroom at night

•Curate your feed for supportive, educational content rather than comparison content

•Turn off endless-scroll features, like counts, and notifications during school/work/sleep

•Balance online interaction with in-person interactions and physical activity

If you are experiencing anxiety, poor sleep, or negative self-image linked to scrolling, reducing time and talking to a trusted person or counselor can help.

Citations (2)

1psychologytoday.comCommercial contentquality 0.82
New Health Advisory on Teen Social Media Use
Backs: “Social media is neither inherently harmful nor inherently helpful — its impact depends on how, how much, and who is using it.”
2yalemedicine.orgNonprofits and think tanks
How Social Media Affects Your Teen’s Mental Health: A Parent’s Guide
Backs: “Research consistently finds both positive and negative effects coexist, so the question is best answered as: helpful in moderation with intentional use, harmful with excessive, passive or risky use. How Social Media Can Be Helpful. 1. Connection and Support. Some teenagers experience a benefit when they use social…”