Research Proves that Social Media Makes People Feel Lonelier

A study shows that spending more time on social media can have a long-lasting impact on your health. A University of Pennsylvania psychologist found out that people active on Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram are more prone to develop depression.

This is not the first time people have correlated overuse of social media to depression, conversely, it is the first time a causal relationship has been recognized.

According to the University of Pennsylvania, few prior studies have tried to show that using social media destructs users’ health, and those that have either put participants in impracticable situations or were partial in scope, asking them to completely forego Facebook and relying on self-reported data or conducting the work in a lab in as little as an hour.

Melissa G Hunt, associate director of clinical training at the varsity’s psychology department says that they set out to do a much broader, accurate study that was also more ecologically valid.

The study finds that reducing the use of social media in reality makes us less lonely because that means we’re spending less time comparing our lives to others.

Hunt put a lot of stress on how entirely limiting social media use for people between the ages of 18 and 22 is not the solution. She admits the study doesn’t really present a solution to the problem, however, it does come to two conclusions: reduce opportunities for social comparison and spend more time with the people around you.

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