Which Social Media Platforms Are Best?
Some platforms are better for different age groups than others.
Social media is uniquely complex. It can create loneliness or ease it, promote anxiety or lessen it, cause FOMO or relieve it. Research to this point says it’s how you use social media that matters.
Even with all of this, there’s still more to learn. We need to understand more about how a social media user’s age factors in and how each social media site makes a difference. For example: are 24-year-old Instagram users having the same experiences as 54-year-old Facebook users?
Traditional communication (face-to-face, email, phone, letters) is a tried and true way for people to form connections and support mental health. But we’re adding new kinds of communication to the mix (AKA social media), and we need to know if it’s just as good as traditional communication.
Four researchers in Japan dove into the study of different age demographics and their social media use, separating each platform into its own area of study. The more we know, the better equipped we are. So, let’s get educated.
How Do We Measure Mental Health?
First of all, how do we determine who is mentally healthy when it’s a seemingly subjective measurement? There are many questionnaires used to measure mental health, and this group of researchers used three:
WHO-5: a short questionnaire that measures subjective well-being. It has been validated as a screening tool for depression and for use in studies.
Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6): contains six items on depression and anxiety, measuring distress symptoms such as general worries and more serious matters.
Feelings of loneliness were measured using one question: ”How often do you feel isolated from the community?” Answers ranged from (1) very often to (4) never.
What Other Factors Influence Social Media’s Effects?
When considering the issue of social media use, it’s best to look into the other life factors that could influence results. In this study, the researchers took into account gender, level of education, age, living arrangement (living alone or with others), presence of chronic disease, subjective financial status, subjective health, frequency of going outdoors, and frequency of traditional communication.
For older adults, another covariate was introduced—the level of instrumental activity of daily living (IADL)—which indicates an older adults’ ability to live independently in their community.
How Do Different Social Media Platforms Factor In?
Among the many social media platforms, these researchers studied four of the most popular in Japan: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LINE. Each platform comes with a different set of norms and standards, so each affects people differently.
Social media use was measured in a questionnaire. Participants were asked about their frequency of posting and checking on all four social media sites.
Facebook: Middle-aged adults were most positively influenced by Facebook use, but only through active use. The study showed that posting on Facebook was better than just checking it.
Instagram: Interestingly, frequent checking on Instagram in young adults led to higher well-being. As previous studies have shown, image-based platforms mimic a social presence, and therefore lead to less loneliness and more life satisfaction.
Twitter: Twitter has fewer positive effects than its social media cousins. In fact, no positive effects were observed in any age groups and Twitter users showed more distress symptoms and loneliness. This is possibly due to the prevalence of cyberbullying and undeserved criticism—a previous study showed that 28% of Twitter users had experienced cyberbullying.
LINE: Studies have shown that those who use LINE frequently had better mental health. Middle-aged adults and older adults enjoyed the most benefits from this platform, showing that those who didn’t (or couldn’t) keep up with traditional forms of communication could help maintain their mental health by communicating through a messaging application.
*For those of us who are unfamiliar with LINE, it’s a platform that allows users to exchange texts, images, audio and video.
Can Social Media Replace Traditional Communication?
In short, no. So don’t go cutting out phone calls and coffee dates just yet. Social media can only supplement traditional communication and with some limitations.
The findings of this study showed that each social media platform is not good for everyone—some are better for one age group than others. This could be explained by generational norms, familiarity with social media, and life context.
Does this mean that young adults should only use Instagram and older adults should stick to Facebook while we all avoid Twitter? Not at all. While Twitter has its challenges, it can encourage networking. And while Instagram can be a breeding ground for comparison, FOMO, loneliness, and more, it can also mimic the feeling of real-life connection through images. There are high points to each social networking site as long as we use them carefully.
Do your best to balance traditional and newer forms of communication, and don’t let yourself get swept up in an insular online life.
Study Objectives & Methods
Who is mentally healthy? Mental health profiles of Japanese social networking service users with a focus on LINE, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Ryota Sakurai, PhD; Yuta Nemoto, PhD; Hiroko Matsunaga, AP; Yoshinori Fujiwara, M.D., PhD.
Published in the Public Library of Science.
Four researchers set out to understand the effects of different social media platforms on different age groups. Social media use was measured by frequency of posting and checking each platform in a week. Mental health was measured using the WHO-5 well-being scale and K6 distress symptoms scale. Loneliness was measured using a single question: “How often do you feel isolated from the community?” Answers ranged from (1) very often to (4) never. Covariates including gender, level of education, age, living arrangement (living alone or with others), presence of chronic disease, subjective financial status, subjective health, frequency of going outdoors, frequency of traditional communication, and for older adults, the level of instrumental activity of dailing living was added. Answers from questionnaires and covariates were considered in relation to one another.
Social Media and Well-Being Training
This research (and all our social media and well-being articles) have laid the foundation for our 3-course program designed for anyone wanting to approach social media and communications in a way that protects well-being and puts people first. Learn more here.
