Using Multiple Social Media Is Bad

It's been touted here before how social media can be a source of depression. But now we know that there is a linear association between the amount of social media platforms you use and your degree of depression. In fact, you are better off spending a lot of time on one platform than less time online maintaining a presence on multiple platforms.

Those of us who use 7 to 11 social media platforms had more than three times the risk of depression and anxiety than our peers who use zero to two platforms. This was the conclusion of research done by the University of Pittsburgh Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health (CRMTH) following a national survey.

"This association is strong enough that clinicians could consider asking their patients with depression and anxiety about multiple platform use and counseling them that this use may be related to their symptoms," said lead author and physician Brian A. Primack, MD, PhD. "While we can't tell from this study whether depressed and anxious people seek out multiple platforms or whether something about using multiple platforms can lead to depression and anxiety, in either case the results are potentially valuable."

The questionnaires Primack and his team devised asked about the 11 most popular social media platforms at the time: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and LinkedIn.

"It may be that people who suffer from symptoms of depression or anxiety, or both, tend to subsequently use a broader range of social media outlets. For example, they may be searching out multiple avenues for a setting that feels comfortable and accepting," said Primack. "However, it could also be that trying to maintain a presence on multiple platforms may actually lead to depression and anxiety. More research will be needed to tease that apart."

In other words, it may not only be about the depression brought upon by seeing how that idiot you knew in high school just bought another Porsche; the actual cognitive multitasking among the myriad software interfaces could have a debilitating affect on you as well. There is also a greater opportunity that you will create a cringe-worthy or perhaps marriage-imperiling faux pas the more you find yourself switching among different social networking groups and platforms.

"Understanding the way people are using multiple social media platforms and their experiences within those platforms – as well as the specific type of depression and anxiety that social media users experience – are critical next steps," said co-author and psychiatrist César G. Escobar-Viera, MD, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate at Pitt's Health Policy Institute and at CRMTH. "Ultimately, we want this research to help in designing and implementing educational public health interventions that are as personalized as possible."

The results of the research have been published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.