Slashdot Mirror
Using Multiple Social Networks May Lead To Depression and Anxiety, Says Study (dailydot.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Daily Dot: The more social media you use, the higher the likelihood that you'll be anxious or depressed. At least according to the University of Pittsburgh Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health. In a study published online this month with more than 1,700 millennial adults, it found people who report using seven to 11 social media platforms had more than three times the risk of depression or anxiety than millennials who use zero to two platforms. The participants were asked about the most popular social media platforms in 2014, the year the study was conducted, which included Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine, and LinkedIn. Those who used more than seven platforms showed higher levels of depressive symptoms, even when researchers controlled for factors like race, gender, relationship status, household income, education, and total time spent on social media. Brian A. Primack, lead author of the study, notes that the correlation is not certain. He told PsyPost: "It may be that people who suffer from symptoms of depression or anxiety, or both, tend to subsequently use a broader range of social media outlets. For example, they may be searching out multiple avenues for a setting that feels comfortable and accepting. However, it could also be that trying to maintain a presence on multiple platforms may actually lead to depression and anxiety. More research will be needed to tease that apart."
>"it found people who report using seven to 11 social media platforms had more than three times the risk of depression or anxiety than millennials who use zero to two platforms"
Oooh, an opportunity for one of my favorite sayings...
Correlation does not imply causation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Perhaps people who are depressed and anxious seek out more social media.
You know. "It's all me! Me me me!"
Yet, when all those social networks either ignore them, or unilaterally label them as the byproduct of an unsatisfactory immediate post-insertion premature ejaculation?
It hurts its widdle feewings!
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Brian A. Primack, lead author of the study, notes that the correlation is not certain.
The data clearly showed correlation between depression and individual use of many social networks; but causation is not certain.
... to more studies.
Hmm, maybe the point of this study was to generate more work for social scientists. Or maybe not. That's the nice thing about the word "may" - it could go either way.
In the parent's haste to grab the first post, he failed to even fully read the summary. The summary offers two hypotheses. One is that people with depression use more social media networks in search of acceptance somewhere. The other hypothesis is that the stress caused by social media can lead to anxiety and depression. Although the headline describes one of those hypotheses, both are clearly presented in the summary. Therefore, there is nothing insightful about the parent. Please mod the parent -1 redundant.
However, there may also be a feedback. If a person seeks acceptance in a wider variety of social media circles and fails to receive it, that may worsen the depression. The types of interactions by depressed people on social media may actually lead to rejection, especially from people not aware the person is suffering from mental illness. Therefore, it may be a combination of both, and feedback from rejection due to depressed behavior. That's a third hypothesis.
It is probably people who don't conform to the facebook crowd, but who are really social creatures trying to find a niche they fit in with.
I didn't find mine, but I started before social networks existed and came from the culture that considered that lack of privacy abhorrent. Nowadays the social networks I ply are lucky to include a few hundred people of which 1 or 2 I might tentatively call casual friends..
I like to txt friends and family on occasion. Sometimes I txt some photos too. It's a bit old style but I'm happy.
Maybe they just couldn't find all the depressed users who aren't on 7 to 11 social networks. Because they're not on social networks.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Correlation does not imply causation. There, now that the elephant in the room has been addressed...
I can totally see social media leading to depression long term. Seriously, you have an entire set of platforms dedicated to championing narcissism and self promotion. I mentioned this a while back in a post about LinkedIn -- one of the things that drives me nuts is, having LinkedIn contacts from the tech and the business world, I notice the business guys posting the same shallow crap they do on Facebook looking for a circle of positive affirmation.
Why do I think it makes people depressed and anxious? A couple reasons...
- It's one-sided -- no one posts about the totally uninteresting, crappy boring parts of their lives. Unless you're rich beyond imagination or a celebrity, everyone will have down moments in their lives, periods of disappointment, and very sad things happen to them.
- There's a pressure to be "always on" -- Stemming from the one-sided positive view of everything, people who might not be doing so well might feel the pressure to act like everything's fine. Having been there, as everyone has, I can't imagine how that feels in social media happy-land...it sucks in real life! There's a constant pressure to be on 24/7, sharing amazing details of your life. Thinking that everyone except you is doing perfectly is a recipe for depression.
- The trolls -- Oh, the trolls, the cyberbullies...The Internet in general and social media specifically brings out the worst in people because they feel they're protected from behind the nice safe keyboard. Look at any news site comments section that uses Facebook identities. Now, people who rant on MSN or CNN are a self-selecting bunch, I'll grant you that -- but take a look sometime and see what people post. You'll see some of the most hateful, racist, angry, spiteful, snide commentary...right next to "John Smith, History Teacher, East Nowhere High School." I've had moments where I've thought "No way, that can't be that person's real name and occupation!" -- and then gone to LinkedIn or similar and found out that yes, that history teacher, dental hygienist or business owner really does correspond to the profile. It's (in my opinion) a sad commentary on how un-civil we are to each other.
Personally, I'm not a big fan. I'd rather blog or post long-form comments on places like this than be constantly tweeting out yet another happy status update to make other people miserable. I enjoy thinking before writing and tend to prefer civil conversations.
When you are exposed to that much stupidity it is depressing. When you learn how stupid the majority of people are, it can be quite depressing. This is seen across the entire internet, not just social media.
I don't use "social media" but it is impossible not to be exposed to it everywhere online now. Sometimes I have to take a break from the internet (including slashdot) because the stupidity gets to me. When I was younger it used to make me very angry and depressed. Eventually I learned I can just "turn it off".
Learning when to tune out all the stupidity that abounds online has helped my mental stability a great deal.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Does Slashdot count as "social network?"
F5'ing the homepage waiting for the next story so I can read through questionable comments may contribute to my depression.
I wonder how many likes it will get!
Get out to the woods with a hot Trump babe, fuck her silly, catch some brookies, micro-photo a butterfly, roll a slim-Jim, tune into Mr Hendricks and drift away .
Headlines with "May Lead To Depression and Anxiety" cause depression and anxiety says meta-study.
Goddammit, so depression is another thing I miss out on by not frittering my time away tweeting, instacrapping, or facebooking.
How am I supposed to get a good, honest depression going without using these time-wasting shithole sites?
Maybe I'll just have to resign myself to being happy.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
i think they meant more than 0.
There are that many?
If they all report news, I imagine those people quickly realize that everyone is withholding facts or just making things up as they go.
I don't use any and I'm depressed and anxious anyway
just use Slashdot.org, and be assured you will be anxious and depressed, as well as annoyed as fuck.
"Slashdot.org, the one social network to use when you are thinking of using more than one"
Apart from the study was studying and what this episode portrays, Nosedive is very telling of how many people view, treat and are affected by social media.
And more and more people are using social media to replace that, these are the type of people that live on there phones texting.
That and media induced fear, lots of people just don't want to go out, so social media is the next best thing. Fear also makes you depressed.
Of course. Slashdot's turned me into a raging psychopath bipolar who wants to kill you all.
Nah, just kidding, I love you guys.
Seriously though.
Nah, I like talking to you all.
But I mean, come on!
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I should give up on slashdot and only read soylentnews from now on. Got it.
Those who are on multiple networks are multiply suffering for multiple depressions.
Rise our eyes from your tiny screen: there a whole REAL world out there:
Out there
Theres a world outside of Yonkers
Way out there beyond this hick town
Barnaby
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
I think people have more problems than depression if they belong to multiple social networks. It's obviously another addiction to wanting to feel important. My own personal view is that social networks don't feel the need for human interaction in real life. As much as people try, their is no replacement for face to face social interaction.
easy solution: use only one social network but give your heart and soul and 20 hours a day to it and you'll live a happy full life!
"Depressed people use multiple social networks" - maybe using so many social networks is a form of therapy that is actually positive.
One possible explanation for the observed result:
People very active on social media are probably more likely to find out depressing stuff like that some of their friends and relatives are racist crazy conspiracy-mongers and the like.
E.g. we've got a friend we hang out with sometimes and enjoy some shared interests. We know from mutual friends (or ex-friends in his case) that lots of them followed his facebook feed and got disgusted with his politics and some of them avoid meeting with him now. We're blissfully ignorant and just enjoy doing our shared interests with him.
I guess no more Slashdot then
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Have gnu, will travel.
My experience with Millennials is that they're depressed and anxiety-wracked (and angsty, and so totally emo) to start with. I think what's really going on here is that being on multiple 'social media' platforms just makes this fact very obvious (and painfully so to everyone else who has to be subjected to it). True, they should get off social media, stop being NEETs, get jobs, and do something useful with their time, other than whine and complain about 'tfw no gf' and 'I'm a manlet, should I kill myself?' and all the other things nobody cares about and they can't do anything about anyway.
I know I'm an old man now, and not technically a millennial (just barely, thank god), but who can possibly use 11 different social media platforms? How do that many even exist? Unless you're counting every random forum a person could ever participate in. Is Slashdot a "social media platform?" I sure as hell don't think so. Do they consider YouTube a social media platform? When I think social media, I think Facebook, Google+, and Twitter (and if I really stretch, Diaspora/GNUSocial). Maybe shit like Instagram can fit in there, but that's just part of Facebook, so doesn't really count. I don't think I'd even count Reddit as social media. All of these are surely "social" apps, but in my mind, "social media" deals specifically with sharing your own, personal content with others that you have connections to, not publishing for mass consumption. I could be wrong.
Using social networking quickly exposes one to the mentally ill trolls, climate deniers, generally ignorant folks and opinionated know-how nothing's who you normally would be able to easily avoid IRL. That can be depressing. So much stupid.
Only boring people are ever bored.