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A new study published in the Journal of Behavior and Information Technology looked at whether less social media use can contribute to more satisfaction, work-engagement and mentally healthy employees.

“The study focused on the question how to reduce potential negative effects of social media use on work- and mental health related variables,” study author Dr. Julia Brailovskaia told us. “Based on our previous findings, we hypothesized that the reduction of social media use time will have those positive effects.”

Social media is commonplace in most countries nowadays. There were approximately 4.89 billion people on social media throughout the globe in 2023. And not just one platform. Most people navigate several varying social media platforms each month. This past year saw more people using social media than ever before with an average of two hours and half each day. The fastest growing social media network is TikTok with a 100% increase rate between 2020 and 2022.

Social media use is part of many people’s daily life. However, recent research showed that intensive use can negative impact the individual. The researchers did a longitudinal experimental study design. Participants were assessed to two groups.

In the intervention group, they reduced their social media use by 30 minutes for one week. In the other group, participants used social media as usual. Data on work and mental health related variables were assessed before the intervention, after it, and one week later.

“The findings show that a reduction of social media use time significantly improved work- and mental health related variables,” Dr. Brailovskaia told us. “The findings confirmed our hypotheses.”

Dr. Brailovskaia believes the study results show that a conscious reduction of time spent on social media use should be included in various mental health programs.