Social Media: What’s the ‘Right’ Amount of Time?
Social Media Can Increase Teen Connection
up to a Point
The Exact Point When Happiness Starts to Decline
Researchers have determined that the positive effects of social media drop off after users spend approximately more than 30 minutes on each platform.
Users are most happy when they limit themselves to 1-2 platforms.
~30 minutes per platform up to a total of one hour is the ‘just right’ amount of time.
Using social media for more than 2 hours per day has been associated with poor self-rating of mental health and increased levels of psychological distress.
Too much time on social media can cut into time for:
Face-to-Face Interaction
Physical Activity
Homework
Sleep
- The Economist, How Heavy Use of Social Media is Linked to Mental Illness – The Economist
- Heavy Users = more than 2 Hours -Sampasa Kanyinga, Lewis RF- NCBI
- No more than 2 platforms – Science Direct
- AAP Sleep Recommendations – American Academy of Pediatrics
- Just 1 Hour of Social Media Ruins Sleep – Mia De Graaf, Daily Mail
- One in 5 people lose sleep over social media – Taylor & Francis, Science Daily
- The Goldilocks Hypothesis — The ‘Just Right’ Amount of Time – Tanya Lewis, Scientific American
