Social media has become an almost inevitable facet of everyday life in 2022, and many of us are probably spending way more time on apps like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or TikTok than we would like – sometimes to our detriment.
Many celebrities, including Jonah Hill and Tom Holland, have announced breaks from social media in recent weeks, citing mental health issues. It begs the question: Is logging out of social media for a few days, weeks, or months the best solution to building a healthier relationship with the app?
Here’s what experts had to say about how social media can be linked to negative mental health issues like anxiety or depression, how to use social media in a healthier way, and whether following in Holland and Hill’s footsteps is the best course of action .
Holland, 26, best known for his roles in Marvel’s Spiderman films, shared on Instagram on Aug. 13 that he would no longer be active on the app.
“I find Instagram and Twitter over-stimulating, overwhelming, I get caught up and spiral when I read things about myself online and ultimately it’s very detrimental to my mental state,” Holland said in the Instagram video. “So I decided to take a step back and delete the app.”
In his farewell video, Holland promoted a British organization called Stem4, which offers apps to help teenagers struggling with their mental health. The actor added that seeking help is “much easier said than done,” but he encouraged others to prioritize mental health care when they need it.
Days later, Hill, 38, decided to take a break from any kind of self-promotion, he said in a statement to Deadline Aug. 17. Hill recently made a documentary called Stutz, which follows his journey into mental health while working as a therapist, which he cites as the reason for his social media hiatus.
“Through this journey of self-discovery within the film,” Hill explained, “I’ve come to realize that for nearly 20 years I’ve been experiencing anxiety attacks exacerbated by media appearances and high-profile events.”
Hill hasn’t been very active on social media in recent years, calling Instagram “a killer” in a GQ interview last summer. Hill’s Instagram account has been completely deleted while Holland’s is currently inactive.
This notion that social media can make mental health problems worse is supported by research, according to Melissa Hunt, PhD, Associate Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
She pointed to a 2018 study she and her colleagues authored that made a connection between the two.
“There was a very good body of evidence showing a link between social media use and poor mental health and well-being,” Hunt told Health. “People who used a lot of social media tended to be more prone to depression, anxiety and loneliness, social anxiety, fear of missing out, and so on and so forth.”
Hunt went on to say that she and her team have also found evidence that social media can actually help cause mental health problems — and that getting rid of them might alleviate them.
“For people who started the study with mild to moderate depressive symptoms, limiting their time on social media resulted in a significant improvement in mood,” Hunt said.
Although Holland and Hill mentioned that participating in social media and public engagement can feel overwhelming and anxiety-provoking, their celebrity likely makes this relationship between mental health issues and social media more complex.
“I think by definition, celebrities have a different relationship with social media because they’re expected to be followed by tens of thousands of strangers,” Hunt said. “That is not the case for the average person.”
Back in fall 2021, Hill posted to Instagram urging fans to “not comment on his body” after he lost weight. Receiving a flood of comments from hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers could overwhelm anyone, Hunt added.
In addition to the sheer volume of followers and public scrutiny that celebrities face, she explained that many use social media as a PR and marketing tool. Balancing the decision between taking a break from social media and promoting your next project may not be easy.
“I give them great credit for knowing they need to step back and take a break,” Hunt said.
While celebrity experiences on social media vary widely, there are a number of facets of the app that can certainly hurt anyone, no matter how famous.
This constant comparison to others, or needing validation from others on social media, is a potentially damaging aspect, explained Lucía Magis-Weinberg, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington.
“We can now quantify our interactions. We know how many likes you got, how many likes I got, how popular you are, how popular I am – we can now quantify that,” said Dr. Magis-Weinberg to Health. “It’s really related to stress, it’s definitely related to depression, to anxiety.”
In addition to the social comparison, Dr. Magis-Weinberg added that the public nature of social media could be a cause for concern. People need to curate what they say or post, knowing that an unknown number of eyes might see it, and are expected to be available at all times.
Social media apps can also make us feel like we’re missing out on the other amazing and curated lives that others lead. This is no coincidence, explains Hunt.
“One of the things people often forget is that when the product is free, you are actually the product that’s being sold,” Hunt said. “Going down the rabbit hole to feel bad to then be a ripe target for advertisers […] that’s the company’s business model.”
According to Hunt, seeing a lot of content from strangers online – for example celebrities or influencers – can cause low self-esteem or even body image issues, which can make us more likely to interact with products or buy products.
The other reason social media is so detrimental to our mental health, Hunt and Dr. Magis-Weinburg, is that it takes a toll on our free time.
“We always have to ask ourselves: What is social media making time for? Does it take time off sports? Does it take time off sleep, which is so important for mental health? Does it take time away from face-to-face contact?” asked Dr. Magis Vineyard. “When social media starts competing with all these things [that] we know what we need for our health, then we start to worry.”
The negative effects of social media may not just stop at mental health.
A study from early 2022 found that people who self-reported on social media had higher rates of chronic inflammation and more doctor visits, among other things.
dr Magis-Weinberg and Hunt agree that more studies are needed on the link between social media use and negative physical health, but they speculate that a range of health problems could be a result of these apps — anything from high levels of inflammation to stress to lead a more sedentary life.
With all the negative mental health issues and low moods commonly associated with social media, our gut reaction might be to follow Holland and Hill’s lead and delete our accounts entirely. However, doing a social media “detox” or pausing the app entirely for a period of time isn’t always the best solution.
If you blame all your mental health issues on social media — and then get rid of all the offending apps — you’re using social media as a scapegoat and not tackling the problem as a whole, explained Dr. Magis Vineyard.
In reality, a variety of things affect a person’s mental health, including personal interactions, physical health, socioeconomic level, and family history, to name a few.
Social media isn’t bad for all people either. “If you need social support, if you live in a marginalized community and [social media is] how you communicate with people who understand and support you, you can’t just opt out completely,” said Dr. Magis Vineyard. “These communities can also be incredibly helpful for finding support and making friends. So yeah, it’s not all dark or light.”
That online connection has become even more important during the pandemic, she added – especially as people continue to isolate if they contract COVID.
Because of these positive benefits, it may be more beneficial and sustainable to limit your daily social media usage rather than going cold turkey and deleting your apps.
“What the research really suggests is that somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes a day there’s an ideal point to use social media,” Hunt said. “It’s about paying attention to the time you spend, not spending too much time, and most importantly, using it well.”
One of the best ways to do this is to let your phone do the work for you. Both Android and Apple phones have different versions of apps that you can use to monitor your screen time.
For Android phones, the Digital Wellbeing app can help you manage your time in apps as well as in your Google Chrome browser. Similarly, you can set up Screen Time on Apple iPhones to set limits on app and phone usage, as well as communication restrictions.
So how do you know when it’s time to limit your time on social media? Start paying attention to how it really makes you feel.
“If you’re spending a lot of time on social media and it’s not making you feel good, you need to … take steps to prevent it,” Celeste Kidd, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, told Health.
Overall, navigating a healthy and sustainable use of social media is a different experience for everyone – but it should always be responsibly incorporated into daily life.
“As with everything else,” said Dr. Magis-Weinberg, “we advise equalizing.”
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