Often, you’ll hear people say that social media isn’t real life but, according to new health advisory warnings, social media usage has real life ramifications that impact our mental health and wellbeing and considering that over 84% of people in the UK frequently use social media, this is concerning.

Last month, the American Psychological Association and the U.S Surgeon General addressed a mounting body of research showing that young people are using social media more and as a result, their mental health is suffering. This is a worrying development given the prevalence of social media among young people and the reliance of it for socialisation and connection.

However, researchers at Iowa State University have found a solution that could help social media users curb their social media habits and in turn, protect their mental health.

Limiting social media usage made a significant difference to mental wellbeing

Researchers conducted a two week experiment with 230 college students – half of them were asked to limit their social media to 30 minutes a day and received automated daily reminders to ensure that they stuck to their limit.

At the end of the two week period, they scored significantly lower for anxiety, depression, loneliness, and fear of missing out compared to the group that used social media more frequently throughout the day.

Interestingly, researchers also found that those who limited their social media usage scored higher for “positive affect” – a tendency to experience positive emotions. These people used words like “excited” and “proud”, indicating a brighter outlook on life as a result of their 30 minute limit.

Interestingly, the researchers did express that 30 minutes isn’t a firm limit and these psychological benefits extended to participants that occasionally extended their limit.

Of course, this experiment didn’t come without difficulties and many of the participants commented that they struggled with cutting back in the first few days but following that initial push, students expressed feeling more productive, sleeping better, being more in tune with life, and spending more time with loved ones in person.

How to cut back social media usage

Cutting out social media entirely is likely to backfire because, according to co-author Douglas A. Gentile, “when a perceived freedom is taken away, we start resisting.” The researchers also highlighted that cutting it out entirely could mean losing connection opportunities with friends and family.

Instead, the researchers recommend that anybody looking to cut back on social media usage (which, let’s face it, should be most of us) follows these guidelines:

• Create awareness. Set a timer or use a built-in wellness app to see how much time you spend on social media.
• Give yourself grace. Recognise that it’s not easy to stick to a time limit. Social media apps are designed to keep you engaged.
• Don’t give up. Limiting social media use over time has real benefits for your daily life.

Brb, I’m off to touch grass.