Social media and mental health links

Social media refers to digital communication that allows users to form online networks and communities for socialising, sharing information, and for the creation and exchange of user-generated content. The first social network Six Degrees was launched in 1997; users of the network could create profiles, connect with friends, and even see their “degrees of separation” from others.

Six Degrees failed to maintain its initial momentum and eventually shut down in 2001. LinkedIn, the first major professional social media networking platform launched in 2003, today LinkedIn has 1 billion members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook revolutionised social networking. Facebook became the largest social network in the world, with nearly three billion users as of 2021, and about half that number was using Facebook every day. In 2005, YouTube revolutionised visual content consumption and creation as a video-sharing platform. In 2006 Twitter, a microblogging platform for concise, rapid information sharing with a 140-character limit launched, today it is known as X, has a new owner, Elon Musk, and now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video.

As users continue to spend more and more time on social media sites, different types of social media platforms have evolved and are oriented toward different uses and users. The subsequent launches of for example Instagram for photo sharing, TikTok for personalised short videos, and Snapchat, with a focus on fleeting messages, have transformed how people document and share their lives online.

These social media sites are only a small sample of the social media networks being used today. To give an indication of social media usage, there were 5.04 billion social media users at the start of 2024, equating to 62.3 percent of the world’s total population. Social media now wields cultural influence on fashion and food trends, family and adolescent health issues, world news and local events, political and community action events to name but a few.

More than 75% of the world’s social media users are over the age of 13, and Facebook continues to be the most popular social media platform across all age groups globally in 2025. According to Datareportal’s Digital 2024 Global Overview Report, 94.7% of internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 visited at least one social networking site in the last month (December 2023).

With social media wielding such a powerful influence, particularly over children and young people, many parents, teachers and experts worry about how exposure to social media might affect their mental health and wellbeing. In this article we will examine social media usage by children and young people and explore how these social media platforms may be impacting their health and well-being.

Social media use in children and teenagers

The Office of Communications (Ofcom) reports that the majority of homes with children and young people aged 0 – 18 (97%) had access to the internet in 2022, and that most children aged 3 – 17 went online at home or elsewhere, via mobile phones (69%) and tablets (64%), although the types of devices used vary by the age of child. Children aged 12 and under are below the age limit for opening a social media account but despite this, research has found that 75% of them have a social media account.

They found that YouTube was the most used online platform among 3 – 17-year-olds (88%), followed by WhatsApp(55%), TikTok (53%), Snapchat (46%), Instagram (41%) and Facebook (34%). Social media apps and sites allow children to actively connect with others, and 30% of 8 – 17-year-olds who used them to share, comment, or post things.

Girls using social media were more likely to be active in this way than boys (34% vs 27%) and more likely to have posted their own videos on sharing apps or sites, particularly those aged 12 – 17 (52%, vs 41% of boys aged 12-17). The most common way of interacting was directly communicating via messaging / calling apps or sites, which were used by 79% of 3 – 17-year-olds overall, and almost all children aged 12 – 17. The most used app for this purpose among children aged 3 – 17 was WhatsApp (55%), followed by Snapchat (38%) and FaceTime (32%).

The Ofcom survey also found that about nine in ten children (89%) played video games, with many of these video games having a socially interactive dimension. 24% of children aged 3 – 17 said they played to “hang out with friends”, and that children aged 8 – 17 used games as a way of playing with (55%) and chatting with (47%) people they knew. Of more concern is that 25% of children played with, and 22% talked to, people they didn’t know outside the game.

Ofcom’s 2024 report “Children’s media lives” states that most children spent between 3 and 6 hours a day on devices, and most of this was on social media apps. Many children surveyed said that they spent multiple hours a day on Snapchat and predominantly used the platform for chatting and interacting with friends and peers in group chats, using ‘snaps’ (image-based texting), and texting. Some younger children used child-specific platforms aimed at children under 13, such as JusTalk Kids, as substitutes for platforms such as WhatsApp and Snapchat.

A major international study has suggested that there has been a sharp rise in what it calls problematic social media use among young people since the pandemic. The Health Behaviour In School-aged Children (HBSC) study found, on average in 2022, that 44% of users were classified as active users, 32% as intense users and 11% of respondents engaged with social media in a problematic way, struggling to control their use, experiencing withdrawal and experiencing negative consequences.

Girls reported higher levels of problematic social media use than boys (13% vs 9%). 12% of adolescents are at risk of problematic gaming, with boys more likely than girls to show signs of problematic gaming (16% vs 7%). This raises urgent concerns about the impact of digital technology and social media on the mental health and well-being of young people.

Is there a link between social media use and mental ill health?

The use of social media and digital technology by children and young people has been increasing over the past decade and evidence of a substantial rise in mental health problems in children and young people has increased interest in the links between social media and mental health.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) have reported that rates of anxiety and depression in young people have risen 70% in the past 25 years, and that social media use is linked with increased rates of anxiety, depression and poor sleep. The negative impact of social media on sleep can be a major concern as lack of sleep can lead to poor mental health and vice versa.

Some commentators have described social media as being more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol. Fear of missing out, peer pressure and constantly comparing to others are commonplace on most forms of social media and these are key factors which can contribute to feelings of low self-esteem, increased anxiety and depression.

Conversely, psychology experts in the UK and US have found there is “not enough evidence” to link social media use to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression in young people. However, they acknowledge that there may be a link between social media and the negative impact it has on young people’s self-esteem.

So there is, unfortunately, no simple answer to the question of whether there is a link between social media use and metal ill health. The mental health charity Mind identifies both benefits and challenges to mental health of being online, and stresses the importance of finding a balance between online and offline life for mental health and wellbeing. To help achieve this they advise:

• Setting aside some time regularly to do something offline. This could be reading a book, doing some physical activity, being outdoors in nature or trying out a relaxation technique.
• Protecting time in your day to eat healthily and get good sleep. Some studies suggest reducing your time on your phone before bed. This can give you time to unwind before sleeping and it can improve the quality of your sleep.
• Spending time offline with people in your life, such as friends and family.
• If you are seeking support online, sometimes this won’t be enough. If you’re feeling unwell, and being online isn’t helpful, it may be a good idea to seek offline support.
• Checking in with yourself regularly about how you’re feeling when you’re online. If being online is starting to have a negative impact on your mental health, you may need to take a break.

Positive of social media

There are lots of benefits to responsible social media and social networking use, and social media has become a powerful tool for communication where children and young people can stay connected to friends and family. Social media connects people with shared interests, experiences, and challenges, and it offers opportunities never available before for connecting, sharing, educating, and informing. During the COVID pandemic, social media became a lifeline for many, particularly for children and young people when in-person socialising wasn’t possible.

Social media also breaks down geographical barriers, allowing connection across continents enabling engagement with diverse perspectives so that children and young people can learn about people’s lives from all over the world, exposing them to new ideas and global issues. Social media offers endless communities where children and young people can explore their interests, from gaming and sports to art, music and science, and this can spark their curiosity and fuel their passions.

With social media, education and learning is no longer confined to the classroom or to textbooks, children and young people can use social media to collaborate and compete with peers, and to share ideas with students not only from other UK schools and colleges but also with students from around the world. Teachers can also create a group for a class on a social media platform, where ideas are shared, students can ask questions to their teachers, and learning resources are distributed.

The areas of children’s and young people’s lives that are being influenced by the online world, and social media specifically, appear to have grown and now include things such as fitness and body image, personal identity, and medical diagnoses. A Superdrug survey of 2,000 social media users in the UK revealed that 42% believe that TikTok is the most accessible platform for health related content, and incredibly, 43% said they have learned more about sexual health from TikTok than they did at school, including 55% of 16 – 24-year-olds. TikTok has over 50 billion views on the #health hashtag and over 1.5 billion views on the topic of sexual health.

For some, the ability to access constant support and advice on health matters anonymously may provide a lifeline to children young people who may struggle in silence. However, because of the vast array of misinformed content on social media, viewing incorrect or misleading content can lead people to self-diagnose inaccurately, cause needless anxiety due to the lack of professional insight and may lead to a negative impact on their physical and / or mental health.

Whilst many children and young people experience a benefit when they use social media to foster positive connections with others who share common interests or identities, others may experience potential negative impact.

Negatives of social media

Parents are finding that children and young people are spending more time alone in their rooms on social media, often until the early hours. This was a trend that began in lockdown when face to face socialising was nearly impossible however, this trend has continued post lockdown and shows no sign of slowing as social media continues to evolve and grow in popularity. Social media has a powerful influence on its users, particularly children and young people, not only shaping their perceptions of self-worth but also impacting their social interactions and possibly their mental health.

Children and young people can sometimes feel pressure to share a lot of personal information online on social media this can increase the risk of data breaches, cyberbullying, stalking or unwanted contact, or becoming a target from people that they know or from others that they do not.

Children and young people can also feel pressured into sharing content that could be harmful to themselves or others, such as sexting, or sharing sexually explicit pictures of themselves or of others, they also have no control over who else these might be shared with once posted. The child or young person might also be exposed to seeing inappropriate or upsetting content such as aggressive, violent or sexual comments or images posted by others.

Cyberbullying and online harassment can affect children and young people in many ways, and may cause depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, isolation, and / or social phobia. In extreme or prolonged cases of this type of bullying, it may even cause self-harming, suicidal thoughts or acts of suicide.

For some people using social media there is an obsession with gaining likes and comments on their posts, it becomes a form of validation and social inclusion. Whilst it can seem harmless or even beneficial in moderation, the desire for validation through likes and comments can lead to a distorted self-image, feelings of worthlessness and in some circumstances, can lead users to engage in and post more and more extreme content. 

The constant exposure to negative news and commentaries on social media may have detrimental effects on both physical and psychological health of children and young people. Excessive exposure to negative news can lead to increased anxiety, stress, and feelings of sadness and helplessness. This can lead to increased heart rate, tension headaches, sleep disturbances, and chronic stress can also weaken the immune system, making the body more susceptible to illnesses.

Social media addiction

It is quite common for the average person’s screen time to creep up above the recommended daily use from time to time, however there is a line between frequent and excessive social media use and dependent, obsessive, addictive social media use. Social media addiction happens when someone obsessively uses social media applications. According to a 2024 news report, almost half of British teenagers say they feel addicted to social media. Out of 7000 respondents to a survey, 45% agreed that they think they are addicted to social media. This was the case for 57% of young girls and 37% of young boys.

Social media may be potentially addictive because of its ability to trigger the brain’s reward system through constant engagement, which releases dopamine, creating a pleasurable feeling. Over time, individuals may start to rely on social media for self-esteem and confidence boosts. In addition, social media algorithms are created in a way to keep you hooked and will feed you more of what you are already engaging with creating a personalised and often addictive experience.

Other reasons why social media use may cross the line between frequent and addictive use may include:

• The immediate feedback loop of likes and comments can be highly reinforcing, making users crave more interaction.
• Repeated use of social media can be habit forming, where checking social media can become an automatic behaviour, done without conscious thought, especially during idle moments
• Starting to use social media as an emotional crutch to escape from stress, anxiety or real-world problems
• The constant availability of social media means that we are never truly disconnected

Fortunately, social media addiction is a very treatable condition, reducing screen time is a great way to help combat problematic social media use, however if the addiction is too severe you may need to seek professional help, speak to your GP or contact mental health charities such as Young Minds for advice.

Signs social media is impacting your mental health

Social media is everywhere in our lives today, it shapes how we see ourselves and for some it may have an effect on mental health. Some of the signs to look for if social media is impacting your mental health and wellbeing might include:

• Strong attachment to your phone or device – This can be expressed by proximity-seeking and separation stress behaviours such as the phone / device is the first thing you pick up in the morning and the last thing you put down at night, you prefer spending time on your phone / device over interacting with friends or family, feeling discomfort if you had to give up your phone / device for a day or even an hour.
• Compulsive checking – A compulsion to constantly check your social media feeds that interferes with your ability to focus on your daily life may be causing lethargy and low mood. You may be experiencing difficulty falling or staying asleep due to late-night scrolling. Turn off non-essential notifications to reduce the urge to check your phone or device constantly.
• Feeling inadequate about your life or appearance – Feeling worse about yourself, perhaps due to negative comments, cyberbullying, or unrealistic beauty and lifestyle ideals. Frequently comparing yourself to others’ idealised social media profiles, can have the effect of bringing envy, dissatisfaction with your own life, or fear of missing out seeing on social media what other people are doing in their lives. The images and material seen on social media are not a true reflection of real life, and it is important to remember this, don’t let them make you feel inadequate, as what you are seeing is not always true.
• Self-absorption – Social media use can cause people to become self-absorbed. Sharing vast amounts of personal information and photos can lead to focusing on creating an online image rather than real life, and can create unhealthy self-centeredness. When something happens that reminds us that our real lives aren’t as idealistic as our social media personas, it can be hard to accept and can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress.
• Feeling overwhelmed by information – Being constantly bombarded with people sharing news of new jobs, relationships, holidays or lifestyle may lead to mental fatigue. Be selective about your feeds to include accounts that inspire, educate, and uplift you, and unfollow or mute accounts that trigger negative emotions or stress. It is also helpful to designate specific times of the day for checking social media. Taking regular breaks from social media can be restorative and may significantly reduce stress, anxiety and depression.

There is a complex relationship between social media use and mental health, for many people social media offers benefits such as connecting people and sharing information, but it also has risks, which is why it is important to recognise the potential risks and balance social media usage by adopting healthy digital habits.