Australian teenagers who spend between one and three hours a day on social media report similar or better mental health outcomes compared with those who use social media less, suggesting that moderation may be key, according to a major new survey. Source: The Guardian.
The Mission Australia survey canvassed the views of 17,480 young people across Australia aged between 15 and 19, which comes amid the public debate over restricting access to social media for people aged under 16.
A ban on under-16s from social media – including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram – is due to come into effect in December.
The survey found 97 per cent of young people reported using social media every day, with 38 per cent spending three or more hours per day, and 53 per cent spending one to three hours per day.
Teenagers who used social media between one and three hours per day reported feeling more in control of their lives (61 per cent) compared with low users (59 per cent) and high users (51 per cent).
Moderate users were also just as likely to seek help from parents as low users (63 per cent) compared with high users (52 per cent), and reported less difficulty in socialising (26 per cent) than low users (28 per cent).
Those who reported higher social media use also reported worse mental health and wellbeing, such as feeling negative about the future, no control over their lives and feeling lonely, the report found.
Youth mental health body Orygen said the report suggested moderation was key when it came to social media use, arguing moderate users of social media tend to fare better or very similarly to low users, “indicating that social media is not, in itself, a problem for all young people”.
The Albanese Government is due to receive a long-awaited report on technology to check ages of all users of social media and adult websites by the end of July.
Communications Minister Anika Wells will then need to decide which platforms it will apply to, and which technology should be used before the ban comes into effect in December.
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Excessive social media found to harm teenagers’ mental health – but experts say moderation may be key (By Josh Taylor, The Guardian)
