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Can social platforms improve mental health?

Many people think of social platforms as bad for our mental health, but that’s not necessarily true. Two recent studies showed that some social platforms can actually have a positive impact on wellbeing, self-esteem, and friendship closeness.

We recently asked about your love/hate relationship with various platforms, but are there any that leave you feeling better than others? (We’re not fishing for compliments, promise.) Are there specific features, examples of interactions, or types of content that give you a mental boost? What can other platforms do to provide those same positive effects?

Created at 4:48pm, 19th September, 2024. Page last updated at 1:24am, 23rd September, 2024.

JHenckes 9/19/2024, 5:17:25 PM

I think the best answer is "It depends". There are several social platforms with different proposals, such as Instagram and TikTok, which are much more focused on short videos that hold your attention, in other words, they are social networks that usually worsen mental health.

Now when we talk about Just About, that is capable of making a mind healthy hahaha. Ok, now seriously, social media can be positive for you if you're interested in it, so for example, using X to filter only informative subjects that you like, having a professional Instagram for your area of work and following professionals who bring positive things to you, participating in specific communities on Facebook and Discord that bring you constructive reflections? There are many possibilities that would only happen if you used the app for this purpose. But what makes the use of social networks unrealistic is that the vast majority of people don't have this vision and end up getting lost in futility and creating feelings of jealousy and envy of the unreal life that is shown on these social networks.

Anyway, I believe that they can be used to improve mental health, but that's not what usually happens!

That said: Just About for Mental Health! 🙏🏼

Makster 9/19/2024, 5:44:22 PM

It can decrease so surely it can also increase too!

Sav 9/19/2024, 8:39:06 PM

As mentioned it really depends and I also feel that being around your own community also helps with your mental health and wellbeing.

Horror and Cats 9/20/2024, 12:06:55 AM

Just speaking for myself personally, I think it can maintain and bolster a mental health support system.

JA is the first social media I’ve had (not counting YouTube) since about 2010 and while I don’t think it’s necessarily IMPROVED my mental health, I think it’s made the safety net for emotional crashes stronger if/when they happen.

yan57436 9/20/2024, 2:17:55 AM

I think it all depends on how you use it and your relationship with the information you receive. Obviously it will always seem that our lives are perfect on social media, which is “complicated”, but we are also not obliged to share bad experiences with other people. So it's up to the person using it to understand that that environment doesn't reflect reality, but rather one of disconnection from it.

Konquest 9/22/2024, 11:37:14 AM

I think it really depends on each individual and our different personalities. People with strong personalities will not really be effected but the majority of people I feel will be sucked or brainwashed into social norms.. for instance (no bashing/bad mouthing intended) Reddit is a mixed bag, there will be people who are supportive and on another side there will be dedicated haters who just want to bring you down. I've been on it for a couple of years, these days I just use it as entertainment reading rather than actually connecting with people. There are occasional cases where I directly reach out to an individual personally. But for the majority I personally think unmoderated social media which is most of them are not that good for mental health.

Just About is the exception, at the risk of sounding like a suck up. I think Just About is a great idea and I love what the team and everyone in this community is about. The safety net is great, granted we still need to learn to stand out ground out in the real world. Having a community/family backing you is really important, because when everything around you crumbles you have somewhere to turn to.

Amoni P 9/22/2024, 1:27:00 PM

I think what social media can do is help you stay connected with friends. The article you linked, dubious as it was, mentioned that Snapchat is was shown to have a positive impact whereas TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have a negative on people's wellbeing. Snapchat is used among friend groups, especially long-distance friends. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube can show you something wonderful one minute and then remind you of something awful happening in the world two seconds later. Not to mention that TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are chock full of people trying to sell you something left, right, and center. These platforms exist to make a small amount of people money and the content is secondary.

I'm skeptical of every social media platform and yet, when I learned that Cohost was closing down due to running out of funds and being unable to secure enough of paying-membership base to cover its costs, I was profoundly sad. There will not likely be another social media platform where I can find all the people connected to on Cohost. If I had to guess, I'd say Cohost is 90% people of the Millennial generation and we're kinda jaded on this whole social media thing as we watched Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace rise and fall and with it our ability to use them as functional tools for interconnectedness.

Braulio M Lara 🔹9/22/2024, 8:02:28 PM

blurred background — Social Net in our Hands

CAN SOCIAL PLATFORM IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH..?

The answer is YES and NOT

YES CAN IMPROVE

Because could be a new communication way to know about news , entertainment and to meet or to keep communication with new friends, couple or family

Is a product of this new times and to be out is almost like not existing

NOT , CAN’T IMPROVE

Because so many social platforms are used just for to get money with you metadata , photos and videos apart that don’t stop the bullying, fake news and is a vehicle of idealistic image of beauty health or successful

But using with responsibility can be more useful than harmful and some of them inclusive can pay you 😉

God bless you all 🤗

mastercesspit 9/22/2024, 8:57:47 PM

no, in the long term anyway, from the get go, social media was intended to collect information for the purposes of making money by selling your personal info, thoughts, likes, dislikes and preferences, to attempt to control the masses with misinformation and censorship, as has been proven most irrefutably in the last 6 years, social media played a crucial role in instigating fear and panic for the scamdemic, while censoring valid, qualified voices by removing their posts or deleting them, as has been proven, so, if we're talking mainstream social media, it's about as good for your mental and physical health as the black plague.