The long read: Social media was supposed to liberate us, but for many people it has proved addictive, punishing and toxic. What keeps us hooked?
How Social Media Brings Out the Worst in Us
A new book argues that social media does more harm than good and we might be happier and healthier using it less.
The Secret Ways Social Media Is Built for Addiction
They're using manipulative tricks from casinos, among other things.
Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It. (Published 2016)
Our increasing addiction to the constant stimulus of updates, likes and posts is damaging our ability to concentrate deeply and focus on work that matters.
Social Media Is Now Parasocial Media
When practitioners used the term “social media” to describe the internet tools that emerged in the mid-aughts, they were giving a name to the kinds of platforms and protocols that allowed people to socialize with friends and communities of interest by using digital technologies. Twenty years later, users of social media are far more likely to scroll than post – and the content that they consume is often strategically produced and algorithmically curated. In this essay, I argue that the very essence of social media has changed. To more effectively interrogate what we are witnessing, we need to stop presuming that these tools are “social media” and begin recognizing that they are now “parasocial media.” Doing so raises new questions about digitally mediated sociality, not to mention the politics and governance of these platforms.
Social Media Experiences Across Nearly 2 Years Since Launching the Social Media Index
With new data through January 2025, we find that social media use is decreasing, bad experiences are mostly holding steady, and positive experiences are increasing on some platforms
Six reasons why social media is a Bummer
Jaron Lanier, pioneer turned digital sceptic, explains in an extract from his new book why we must take back control
I used to think social media was a force for good. Now the evidence says I was wrong | Matt Haig
More and more, it’s clear these platforms create divisions, exploit our insecurities and risk our health, says novelist Matt Haig
No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior
Electronic media present us with a collage of experiences from everyplace. We eat dinner at home while watching starving children thousands of miles away reach out to us for food. From our easy chairs, we stare at blindfolded hostages, and coolly
RIP social media. What comes next is messy.
As social media splinters, how can we keep the new online spaces from devolving into toxic pits of despair?
The Social Media Sea Change
What happens when the thing that structured so much of our lives loses its utility?
Hard Questions: Is Spending Time on Social Media Bad for Us?
With people spending more time on social media, many rightly wonder whether that time is good for us. Do people connect in meaningful ways online? Or are they simply consuming trivial updates and polarizing memes at the expense of time with loved ones?
Objective, subjective, and accurate reporting of social media use: No evidence that daily social media use correlates with personality traits, motivational states, or well-being.
Ten Myths About the Effect of Social Media Use on Well-Being
This viewpoint reviews the empirical evidence regarding the association between social media use and well-being, including life satisfaction and affective well-being, and the association between social media use and ill-being, including loneliness, anxiety, and depressive symptomology. To frame this discussion, this viewpoint will present 10 widely believed myths about social media, each drawn from popular discourse on the topic. In rebuttal, this viewpoint will offer a warranted claim supported by the research. The goal is to bring popular beliefs into dialogue with state-of-the-art quantitative social scientific evidence. It is the intention of this viewpoint to provide a more accurate and nuanced claim to challenge each myth. This viewpoint will bring attention to the importance of using rigorous scientific evidence to inform public debates about social media use and well-being, especially among adolescents and young adults.
How do you solve a problem like social media? Part I
It's all well and good saying we should regulate social media. But social media is already regulated. So why is it failing? And what could we do in response?
Social media is no longer social. Most of it is passive viewing of videos and pictures from people we've never met. But we're still studying social media like it's 2010. We've entered the post-social media era — and research needs to catch up. osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/6nue7_v1 preprint w/ Richard Rogers
