(MENAFN- Asdaf News)
According to a recent study, young individuals who“passively scroll” through other people's social media postings on the platform without contributing their own material are more likely to experience anxiety, despair, and stress.
In order to better understand how different social media interaction modalities affect psychological discomfort and feelings of loneliness, researchers polled 288 adults between the ages of 18 and 34.
According to the Office for National Statistics, young adults have the highest degrees of loneliness, according to Dr. Constantina Panourgia, a senior lecturer in developmental psychology at Bournemouth University.
For this generation of young people, social media is quite important; some people praise it, while others despise it.
“Earlier research has a history of focusing on certain platforms or the duration of internet use. Nevertheless, regardless of the platforms individuals use, our goal was to go further and study the many ways in which people connect with social media.
The study that appeared in the journal Behaviour and Information Technology looked at three different types of social media users.
There are three different user types: passive users (those who just see material posted by other users), active non-social users (those who publish their own content but do not interact with other users), and active social users (those who post their own content and interact with other users' postings).
The research found that more passive social media usage was associated with higher levels of anxiety, sadness, and stress, but active non-social use-creating and sharing information without directly engaging with people online-had a beneficial effect on stress.
“Increased mental distress”
The study's principal investigator, Zoe Taylor, said:“We found that social media users' use habits had a significant impact on their psychological health.
People who passively use social media frequently report feeling more alone, which can contribute to higher psychological discomfort.
Dr. Panourgia said,“Passive social media use does not offer chances for conversation and self-disclosure, which are known to encourage connectivity and social support.
Therefore, users could experience a sense of exclusion and isolation, which can intensify feelings of loneliness and subsequently result in higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.