Swansea University has released new study demonstrating that cutting daily social media use by just 15 minutes can greatly benefit health and immune function, as well as decrease feelings of isolation and depression.
Authors Phil Reed, Tegan Fowkes, and Mariam Khela from Swansea University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences performed the research published in the Journal of Technology in Behavior Science.
Fifty people, 33 women, 17 men, between the ages of 20 and 25 were asked monthly questions about their health and psychological well-being and reported weekly on how much time they spent on social media.
Those in the study group who were requested to cut back on their social media usage reported fewer instances of colds, flu, warts, and verrucae, better sleep quality (up by 50%), and reduced levels of depression (down by 30%). As a comparison, neither of the other two groups exhibited any change in those measures, so these enhancements were clearly superior.
Instead of the requested 15 minutes per day, those urged to cut back averaged about 40 minutes per day, while the control group saw a daily increase of 10 minutes.
What the authors concluded: “These findings extend previous results from similar studies and suggest limiting screentime may be beneficial to health and wellbeing.”
