A new study from the University of Pennsylvania establishes for the first time a causal link between time spent on social media and feelings of depression or loneliness.

One hundred and forty-three undergraduates from the university participated in the study, titled “No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression.”

“Participants had their mood and sense of well-being tested using seven different scales. Half of the participants used social media as normal, while the other half limited their usage to only ten minutes per day for each of the platforms studied: Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Participants in the control group used the three social media apps about 400 minutes per week, or 57 minutes per day, during the course of the study.

“Those who cut down on social media saw “clinically significant” decreases in depression and loneliness over the course of the study. Those who were in the control group, who did not change their behavior, saw no improvement. The authors wrote: “It is ironic, but perhaps not surprising, that reducing social media, which promised to help us connect with others, actually helps people feel less lonely and depressed.” (Christopher Carbone, “No more FOMO? Cutting back on Facebook, Snapchat will make you less depressed and lonely, study says”, Fox News, November 13, 2018)

The acronym FOMO means fear of missing out. The study also concluded that limiting social media usage to around 30 minutes a day could lead to improvement in one’s overall outlook.