You have probably met people or heard of them who claim they are feeling better after quitting social media platform. But does it really help?
Participants were regularly asked to log their mood through text messages with the researchers, who also verified that the subjects actually kept their accounts inactive.
It was found that the “quitters” found more time to do a number of things such as meeting friends and family or watching TV. They didn’t use the spare time in visiting other social media platform either.
Although they didn’t spend much time reading or watching the news, people who weren’t on Facebook were found to be less politically polarized.
Another surprising aspect of the study was that after refraining from Facebook for a month, they willingly chose to spend less time on Facebook even when the study was over.
Given that we have a very vague idea of what our online habits are doing to our brains and behavior, this study does provide us with a useful glimpse into the possible effects.
