Media

Scienceline - On a global scale, greater use of Facebook is not linked to any effect on well-being, says a study from Oxford University published August 2023. Andrew Przybylski and Matti Vuorre, psychologists at Oxford’s Internet Institute, analyzed well-being indicators among residents of 72 countries, alongside data that tracked how much people in those countries used Facebook.  Looking at data from almost one million people over the course of 12 years, they found no link between using Facebook and experiencing worse mental health. In fact, in a given year, if a country increased the proportion of its citizens using Facebook, “it was likely that the well-being levels in that country were also slightly elevated,” Vuorre says. This is completely contrary to the conventional wisdom that social media has a negative association with mental health. These findings confirmed the results of many other studies over the years, including ones from Brock University and Oxford, that have either found positive links between social media and mental health, or none at all.