Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety • Hacker News Board

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#51

Post by quest88 » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 7:44 PM UTC

midtake wrote: post #43

mjburgess wrote: post #19

I think there's a non-trivial probability that concern over social media is a moral panic, and it's being used as a scapegoat for larger social forces. I wonder if much of what it does is surface our neuroses and issues into public, and thus here we are only shooting the messenger. This may prove out if after 5yr+ of it being banned or limited, nothing changes in the youth (et al.) -- that would be my prediction. I t…

You are probably at least 30 years old and you have forgotten how disruptive social media is for young people. We are not talking about a degradation of a high trust society here. With social media, we are talking about kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster. We are talking about large swaths of the population preferring to be entertained by social media then to engage in…

I think your second paragraph is too broad. The same could be said for kids doing the bare minimum to play video games, or even go outside to play with their friends all prior to social media. Many people long spent too much time watching tv, and still do, instead of pursuing what you think success is. Also, let people be content, we don't always need to engaging in activities for success

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#52

Post by joenot443 » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 8:02 PM UTC

midtake wrote: post #43

mjburgess wrote: post #19

I think there's a non-trivial probability that concern over social media is a moral panic, and it's being used as a scapegoat for larger social forces. I wonder if much of what it does is surface our neuroses and issues into public, and thus here we are only shooting the messenger. This may prove out if after 5yr+ of it being banned or limited, nothing changes in the youth (et al.) -- that would be my prediction. I t…

You are probably at least 30 years old and you have forgotten how disruptive social media is for young people. We are not talking about a degradation of a high trust society here. With social media, we are talking about kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster. We are talking about large swaths of the population preferring to be entertained by social media then to engage in…

> kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster

This was me for much of high school, but with Team Fortress 2 or Dota instead of social media.

Comic books, video games, television, skateboarding, fidget spinning - the list of things kids would rather do than homework is endless. I think a kid spending 4h+ on one activity is unhealthy either way, and it really comes back to the parents to be the arbiters. Speaking from experience, children (generally) aren't very good at predicting how best to spend their time, which is why involved parents are so important.

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#53

Post by 46493168 » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 8:10 PM UTC

joenot443 wrote: post #52

midtake wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are probably at least 30 years old and you have forgotten how disruptive social media is for young people. We are not talking about a degradation of a high trust society here. With social media, we are talking about kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster. We are talking about large swaths of the population preferring to be entertained by social media then to engage in…

> kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster This was me for much of high school, but with Team Fortress 2 or Dota instead of social media. Comic books, video games, television, skateboarding, fidget spinning - the list of things kids would rather do than homework is endless. I think a kid spending 4h+ on one activity is unhealthy either way, and it really comes back to the pa…

Which items on the list have engineers dedicated to rapid A/B testing running 24-7 to amp up the engagement numbers?

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#54

Post by dtdynasty » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 8:28 PM UTC

joenot443 wrote: post #52

midtake wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are probably at least 30 years old and you have forgotten how disruptive social media is for young people. We are not talking about a degradation of a high trust society here. With social media, we are talking about kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster. We are talking about large swaths of the population preferring to be entertained by social media then to engage in…

> kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster This was me for much of high school, but with Team Fortress 2 or Dota instead of social media. Comic books, video games, television, skateboarding, fidget spinning - the list of things kids would rather do than homework is endless. I think a kid spending 4h+ on one activity is unhealthy either way, and it really comes back to the pa…

I was also one who spent their time playing dota in high school. In my experience one can learn more from playing dota than the average social media experience. Understanding team dynamics and emotional regulation to negative experiences outside your control. If you take the game seriously even prioritization and deliberate practice.

Of course not everyone learns from playing dota but at least it's a focused experience that doesn't steal focus away like short form videos.

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#55

Post by brendoelfrendo » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 8:50 PM UTC

midtake wrote: post #43

mjburgess wrote: post #19

I think there's a non-trivial probability that concern over social media is a moral panic, and it's being used as a scapegoat for larger social forces. I wonder if much of what it does is surface our neuroses and issues into public, and thus here we are only shooting the messenger. This may prove out if after 5yr+ of it being banned or limited, nothing changes in the youth (et al.) -- that would be my prediction. I t…

You are probably at least 30 years old and you have forgotten how disruptive social media is for young people. We are not talking about a degradation of a high trust society here. With social media, we are talking about kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster. We are talking about large swaths of the population preferring to be entertained by social media then to engage in…

I think that on the whole, you're right in that these issues, where social media can provide support to young people, are not often addressed, but I also think that the larger framing that seems to pop up in these threads, where we assume social media is a negative influence that might sometimes facilitate a positive interaction, is backwards, and not really supported by evidence. Far more research, especially research that actually talks to kids about their social media use seems to indicate that, on the whole, kids experience social media as a largely neutral thing that sometimes has good or bad outcomes. Importantly, I think talking to kids reveals that they're usually aware of the harms of social media and they work to mitigate those influences in their lives.

I really blame "The Anxious Generation" for somehow successfully setting the tone of conversation around social media by feeding into the larger moral panic despite being a poorly researched pile of dreck.

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#56

Post by Etheryte » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 8:52 PM UTC

dlisboa wrote: post #10

Etheryte wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you take anxiety to include everything from stress to a bunch of disorders, I'd believe it. Our bodies were not made to handle the permanent stress we see in modern life. The first place I imagine goes to cardiovascular issues?

It either is the "second leading cause of disability and mortality" or it isn't, there's nothing to believe. I very much agree with GP that the claim is completely unsupported. I found the study that the article bases this on[1]. It doesn't make this claim and instead associates a higher mortality rate to sufferers of all mental disorders, 67% of which are deaths by natural causes. That these natural causes are direc…

There is space to suspend your belief/disbelief before you look it up and entertain an idea as plausible to consider what it might say about the discussion at hand. This doesn't mean blindly believing make believe, rather it means deferring coming to a conclusion, to quote the site guidelines, to converse curiously. Of course you can look it up and resolve it after the fact, but that doesn't mean the rest of the surrounding context can't be interesting without the resolution.

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#57

Post by JustRandom » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 8:57 PM UTC

mjburgess wrote: post #19

I think there's a non-trivial probability that concern over social media is a moral panic, and it's being used as a scapegoat for larger social forces. I wonder if much of what it does is surface our neuroses and issues into public, and thus here we are only shooting the messenger. This may prove out if after 5yr+ of it being banned or limited, nothing changes in the youth (et al.) -- that would be my prediction. I t…

[dead]

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#58

Post by jatins » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 8:58 PM UTC

joenot443 wrote: post #52

midtake wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are probably at least 30 years old and you have forgotten how disruptive social media is for young people. We are not talking about a degradation of a high trust society here. With social media, we are talking about kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster. We are talking about large swaths of the population preferring to be entertained by social media then to engage in…

> kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster This was me for much of high school, but with Team Fortress 2 or Dota instead of social media. Comic books, video games, television, skateboarding, fidget spinning - the list of things kids would rather do than homework is endless. I think a kid spending 4h+ on one activity is unhealthy either way, and it really comes back to the pa…

The question is whether social media is closer to candy or cocaine.

You are right that kids will chose anything other than homework but how do you explain adults spending 8 hours a day on short form platforms? Don't think TV had this kind of a hold on people. Some gamers did tend to develop obsessive tendencies over gaming but now that seems much more widespread with social media

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#59

Post by tsoukase » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 9:00 PM UTC

When a single correlation of social media use with a positive outcome is found, it immediately becomes headline, while hundreds of other evidence are discarded because they are 'boring'. Well, even this correlation is of little benefit. Anxious people cover their stress while engaging online and postpone their improvement while they are distracted from building real, healthy interpersonal relationships that will help them.

Smoking is correlated with lower risk of Parkinson's disease but it's not suggested in any setting.

Re: Study: emotional support from social media found to reduce anxiety

#60

Post by boondongle » Wed, Feb 04, 2026, 9:03 PM UTC

The intersection of dark patterns, addiction, and support networks really creates probably more variability than this study is accounting for.

Youtube, Reddit, and a few other networks I could name off the top of my head were pro-support networks, pro-identity building at once time. It seems impossible to keep the profit motive from transitioning to an addictive/neuroticism-feeding paradigm.

You end up with the weird reality that some types of websites just need to be user-supported/run because any other motive ultimately breaks them and seems to make them toxic. I'd also add the reality that neurotic/polemic content seems to spike any sort of algorithm based on engagement.

Basically our closest metric for monetization is inherently toxic.