Stop Scrolling: Your Social Media Use May Do More Harm than Good

About six years ago, some colleagues and I published research that indicated that increased time on the social media platform, Facebook, was linked to depressive symptoms among young people. The studies, which served as the basis for the article, were, of course, not conducted during a major global pandemic. So even during the best of times when the economy is booming and people feel relatively safe, they tended to suffer from mental health consequences as a result of spending too much time on social media.

Thus, social media platforms represent people's window to the outside world; however, the views nowadays are a never-ending parade of social, political, and economic unrest.

During the pandemic, people are feeling isolated from others, so it is only natural to be spending more time on social media in order to connect with other people. In addition, according to a recent Pew study, the majority of Americans now get their news on social media as opposed to traditional print media sources. Thus, social media platforms represent people's window to the outside world; however, the views nowadays are a never-ending parade of social, political, and economic unrest.

The pandemic has spotlighted, and at times magnified, a multitude of inequities in America such as the widening pay gap between the rich and the poor, escalating racial tensions, polarized political factions, and gender inequalities. These factors in combination with partisan sources for news and the proliferation of conspiracy theories on social media have created what the World Health Organization (WHO) has termed an "infodemic"—the overabundance of information about a problem(s) that makes it "hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it."

The pandemic has spotlighted, and at times magnified, a multitude of inequities in America such as the widening pay gap between the rich and the poor, escalating racial tensions, polarized political factions, and gender inequalities.

The conflicting information and lack of clear guidance over what is the right thing to do have made even normally mundane tasks such as going to the grocery store or sending your kids to school seem like a high-stakes game of Russian roulette. Moreover, if left unchecked, these perennial flight-or-flight emotions related the chronic stress and anxiety of unlimited uncertainty can lead some people to experience severe anxiety, depression, and burnout.*** So, what can people do if they are feeling overwhelmed by these negative emotions?