Excessive social media 'negatively impacts wellbeing'

Excessive social media 'negatively impacts wellbeing'Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Excess social media use has been linked to lowering wellbeing of young people.ByEllie CleverleySouth of EnglandPublished23 May 2026We all know the feeling of doom-scrolling, the mindless numbing of the brain.But did you know it's actually impacting our wellbeing more in the Western World, particularly for girls. The World Happiness Report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, found that excessive use of social media negatively impacts our wellbeing."If you use social media for an hour a day, that's great, you're being connected," says Michael Plant, Research Fellow at the Wellbeing Research Centre."But the report did show a correlation between, the more time you spend on social media the greater loss of wellbeing."Image caption, Michael Plant says there is a correlation between happiness and social media useThough the report does not know why the Western world is more impacted, it found that under 25s wellbeing in countries like United States, Canada, Australia and UK has dropped dramatically over the past decade - the same time social media has grown."I was originally skeptical about the negativity on social media, but the evidence is mounting up," Plant continues. "So young people are not smoking, they're not taking drugs, having lots of sex like my generation but they do have social media."And the platforms are designed to maintain engagement," he added.Image caption, Sydney is a content creator focusing on fitness and helping people be their authentic selvesSydney Grows, a fitness content creator who "fell into the role" when she started posting TikTok's since 2021 says "it's a dream"."I am very lucky, the health and fitness industry, the people are lovely the opportunities are incredible and I feel like I am living my dream ev...