No real surprises here, but still a worthwhile read. This latest Education Review article explores how social media can have both positive and negative impacts on young people’s wellbeing. Issues with social media start to rise when it is used heavily and passively, like for ‘doom scrolling’. (Credit to Erin Morley, 7th April, 2026)
Young people who used social media for less than one hour a day reported higher wellbeing than those who did not use social media at all.
Young people in English-speaking countries that use social media heavily have experienced a dramatic drop in wellbeing, according to one international survey.
The 2026 World Happiness Report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, ranks and evaluates the wellbeing of people from 140 countries.
It found under 25-year-old New Zealanders, Australians, and North Americans are less happy than 15 years ago, despite increased happiness in under 25s in other parts of the world.
The timing of the drop correlates with increased social media use across the globe – adolescents spend an average of 2.5 hours a day on social media – but young people in non-English-speaking countries have not experienced the same drop in happiness.
In fact, globally, young people who used social media for less than one hour a day reported higher wellbeing than those who did not use social media at all.
Factors such as social connection and a sense of belonging have a much bigger impact on wellbeing than social media use.
Wellbeing economist and report author Associate Professor Stephanie Rossouw said declining happiness in young people can have severe impacts on society and the economy.
“Why is it problematic that our young people’s happiness is declining? Because it points to a broader structural shift in how young people are living, connecting, and experiencing the world. If these trends continue, they may have long-term implications not just for individual well-being, but for productivity, social cohesion, and the resilience of our communities,” she said.
“They won’t be interested in pushing the country to make whatever changes we need, because they might feel there’s going to be a World War III, so what’s the point?
“Substance abuse may increase. The happier you are, the fewer risks you take in life. You are likely to drink less alcohol, [not] smoke and to do drugs – because you are happy. You don’t need to go and look for substances to increase your happiness.”
Issues with social media start to rise when it is used heavily and passively, like when ‘doom scrolling’ (the action of continually scrolling through and reading depressing or worrying content on a social media or news site) instead of active communication.
Internet activities that include communication, news, learning, and content creation are associated with higher life satisfaction, while social media, gaming, and browsing for fun are associated with lower.
In Latin America – which has both high levels of engagement with social media and high levels of wellbeing – WhatsApp and Facebook are the most popular social media platforms, while uptake of X, Instagram and TikTok is low.
“The positive associations are strong for widely used platforms that facilitate social connection. By contrast, platforms based on algorithmic content show less favourable relationships,” the report said.
“These findings demonstrate that the relationship between social media and happiness is contingent upon both platform design and the broader cultural and social context in which social media use takes place.”
That broader context includes social interactions in real life, which researchers from University College London say are “thinning” for young people.
“Young people are arguably spending more time online partly because the real world has less and less to offer them, as we explored in a report for the Nuffield Foundation,” Professor of Developmental Neuroscience Eamon McCrory and Mental Health Science PhD candidate Ritika Chokhani wrote.
“At the heart of their declining wellbeing is the hollowing out of the real-world infrastructure that supports healthy social development, with social lives becoming increasingly fragile and ‘thinned’.
‘Social thinning’ includes fewer opportunities to play, take risks and build supportive relationships because there are fewer physical spaces to congregate in.
The pandemic, a “risk-averse” parenting culture and underinvestment in social spaces have all played a part.
“Teenagers are wired to explore friendships, navigate complex social groups and practice handling conflict and rejection. These experiences help young people develop agency and independence,” they said.
“But developing these abilities depends on spending time in a wide range of real social environments with different kinds of relationships, from casual interactions to close friendships.
“When chances to practise these skills shrink, it can lead to loneliness and consequences for development. It can become harder to trust others, feel connected to peers or manage strong emotions.”
Credit to Erin Morley, Education Review, 7th April 2026
