1/17/2018 Time on social media is not linked to poor mental health | Daily Mail Online

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The way that young people use social media - particularly 'vaguebooking' - is married b
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The study found much stronger links between mental health and the quality of
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5048213/Time-social-media-not-linked-poor-mental-health.html 1/48
1/17/2018 Time on social media is not linked to poor mental health | Daily Mail Online
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Time spent on social media does not predict poor mental health, according to a new study Whiteley t
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Led by Chloe Berryman of the University of Central Florida (UCF), the researchers £50,000 a
surveyed 467 young adults about social media and their personal and emotional
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The surveys asked how much time each day they spent on social media, how they pet lizard
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questions about their anxiety levels, ability to empathize, frequency of suicidal
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The results indicated no signi icant or consistent associations between time on welcomin
social media and self-reported signs of psychological distress, with the notable surrogate
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exception of vaguebooking. cake

The practice was more common among people that reported that they were lonely 'My suns
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But the authors cautioned against broader assumptions about the negative twins last
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Study co-author Dr Christopher Ferguson Perrie Ed

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Earlier this week, a Columbia University Lap dance

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1/17/2018 Time on social media is not linked to poor mental health | Daily Mail Online

found that depression is on the rise in the Although they may not describe her fami
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of older adults, with 12.7 percent of easily annoyed. 

people between 17 and 19 reporting Other symptoms include tearfulness,

feeling depressed. withdrawing from socializing, changes
in eating habits and a lack of energy.
The authors of that study suggested that
'adolescents are increasingly exposed to Physical signs are headaches, poor
digestion, and muscle and joint pain.  Getaway
risk factors derived from the use of new girls? Mak
technologies, such as cyberbullying and with a littl
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problematic social media use.’ The together. AD FEATU
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Dr Ferguson agrees that inancial and
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research - that social media has such a dramatic impact. announce
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‘There’s nothing magical about social media use that makes you depressed or 'We are s
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Instead, Ferguson says that the way that a person uses social media is more surrogate
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predictive of their mental health than the amount of time they spend on it. Latest add

‘If you use social media to ruminate about how bad your life is, well, yeah, it will be The frill
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associated with negative feelings, but it can also be used to improve self-
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con idence. [Social media] is neither good nor bad, it’s really about how you use it,’ McCartne
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Social media posts that fall into that category of vaguebooking typically include no
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speci ic information, but use language that is likely to make readers worry that that Christina
the poster is in some kind of psychological distress. shows off
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SHARE THIS RELATED ARTICLES Edgy vibe
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Vaguebooking functions essentially like a cry for help – or at least attention – and the McCartne
study found that young adults that made such posts were more likely to have
Who wore
suicidal thoughts and report feeling lonely. Miranda K
Bennet we
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1/17/2018 Time on social media is not linked to poor mental health | Daily Mail Online

‘It really may be a risk marker for some real problems,’ says Dr Ferguson. According dress to
McCartne
to his study, people who regularly vaguebook tended to have histrionic, or ‘attention- in LA
seeking’ personalities, he says.

Otherwise, ‘if people are turning to social media in order to connect with people,
that doesn’t seem to be such a bad thing, or at least it doesn’t necessarily predict
suicide ideation,’ he says.

Outside of vaguebooking, there were much stronger correlations in the study

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between depression or suicidal thoughts and factors like a strained relationships Amber Ro
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The authors don’t deny that teen depression and suicide rates and some ways of heavy'
using social media are worrisome, but Dr Ferguson says that there are ‘broader
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social structural issues,’ that are resulting in ‘a pervasive pessimism about the way Pia Miller,
things are going.’ Stewart a
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He says that overly broad statements about social media and mental health are Home And
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doing a ‘disservice.’
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‘Every generation has something…for the last generation, it was video games, before blast 'gros
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that it was rock music and before that Elvis and comic books,’ Dr Ferguson says. Laughs no
for 'pullin
His indings support the idea that ‘media generally is not the thing that generates the and leavin
on the win
big problems in society,’ he says. 
'I would
with her!'
Barnardo's experiment highlights dangers of social media for kids

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