The study found no evidence for boys or girls that heavier social media use or more frequent gaming increased teenagers’ symptoms of anxiety or depression over the following year.

  • Vilaiban@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    A recent study from Harvard University found the opposite :

    If you’ve ever thought a break from social media might be good for your head space, new research suggests you’re onto something.

    In a study of young adults published in JAMA Network Open, those who participated in a one-week social media detox experienced a boost in their mental health, with symptoms of anxiety dropping by 16.1 percent, depression by 24.8 percent, and insomnia by 14.5 percent.

    https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/12/social-media-detox-boosts-mental-health-but-nuances-stand-out/

    Another study from MIT found that social media is bad for mental health:

    https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/study-social-media-use-linked-to-decline-mental-health

  • toiletobserver@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Social media isn’t bad, just ask early Facebook users or current lemmy users. Corporations definitely turn them to shit marketing services. See same examples.

    My anecdotal take has more to do with a deterioration of polite society and the proliferation of easily accessible information, which happens to paint a negative picture. Also, get off my lawn you kids!

        • tyler@programming.dev
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          23 hours ago

          No they weren’t. You don’t follow people on forums. Write a definition of social media that includes forums but excludes news websites, or literally any website with a comment section. I’ll wait.

          • TheBlackLounge@lemmy.zip
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            8 hours ago

            Before Facebook etc, forums were really small and plenty. They might be about a certain topic, but you were there for the few loud people that kept it going. Following them, pretty much. Didn’t like them, you went to another forum of that topic, same deal there.

            It’s nothing like the forums today full of new accounts asking one question and moving on.

            Lemmy is also not really anything like those forums. The reason why you call Lemmy a forum but Facebook not is more accidental, maybe because of marketing, definitely not because of rigorous definitions.

            In any case, @[email protected]’s observation applies to social media, forums, news sites with a comment section and any other site.

            • tyler@programming.dev
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              16 hours ago

              Social networks formed by connections between profiles,[2][5] such as followers, groups, and lists

              So not forums then.

              • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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                13 hours ago

                “Common features” does not imply it must have all on the list to be considered social media.

                Here’s the other three if you’re curious:

                Online platforms enable users to create and share content and participate in social networking.[2][3][4]

                User-generated content—such as text posts or comments, digital photos or videos, and data generated through online interactions.[2][3]

                Social media helps the development of online social networks by connecting a user’s profile with those of other individuals or groups.[2][5]

    • _‌_反いじめ戦隊@ani.social
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      23 hours ago

      deterioration of polite society

      My parents’ generation, and mines have extremely different views on what “politeness” means. For them it means “respect my seniority, which means I should have authority over you,” not “I deserve dignity, so be generous at my circumstances.”

      My parents want me to submit to their insubordinations “because that is the polite thing to do.” Not if I can kiss my polycule in front of them because it makes this cis monogamous biases disgust.

      get off my lawn you kids!

      Yep, pretty much why we don’t respect landowners. Parasite scum.

          • verdi@tarte.nuage-libre.fr
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            8 hours ago

            Snowflakes and boomers have the same toxic levels of self assurance in their righteousness, that’s why we have a reacctionary wave now, both worse generations in the last 100y are imposing upon others their orthodoxies with no time for empathy or dialogue. The one with the most money is winning, predictably.

            • _‌_反いじめ戦隊@ani.social
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              8 hours ago

              e.g. @[email protected]
              Why in the fuck do I get <3 day old accounts to reply to my nerdy posts, on a nerdy thread‽ And it’s not the only one! This one created an account JUST to deOP me.


              anyways, verdi, if you are a real frenchie, why do I have to care about boomer’s opinions that aren’t helping us compost the money havers?

              I am talking about how intent and meaning differ, esp. when jokes need setup and indications through generations.

  • Fluffy Kitty Cat@slrpnk.net
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    21 hours ago

    Of course this was all a plot to isolate queer teenagers and stop them from openly criticizing government policy

  • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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    1 day ago

    It’s so strange how people just assume that “social media” is “bad” because that confirms their pre-conceived biases. People are even promoting that the state violently control “social media”.

    Sometimes it’s helpful to look at the actual science which is extremely inconclusive.

    • Steve@communick.news
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      1 day ago

      self-reported social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties

      Looks like they were tracking self reported data, combining both social media and gaming. No wonder they didn’t see anything.