Temporarily deactivating Facebook or Instagram can improve emotional well-being, according to the largest experimental study on the effects of social media abstention conducted in partnership with Meta. David Lazer, a Northeastern University distinguished professor of political science and computer sciences, is among the researchers behind the findings.
With over 35,000 participants, the study offers rare large-scale experimental insight into how short-term social media breaks affect mood and mental health. “The paper both resonates with some prior work and extends it,” Lazer says. “It highlights that there does seem to be a positive effect when you take people off of Facebook and/or Instagram.”
