A Stanford study of 35,000 people found that a six-week break from Instagram and Facebook increased calmness and happiness, with effects varying by age and gender.
A Stanford University study has found that taking a six-week break from Instagram and Facebook left participants feeling calmer and happier overall. The research involved 35,000 people and examined the effects of stepping away from the two Meta-owned platforms.
The benefits were not uniform. Women aged 18 to 24 saw the strongest improvements after giving up Instagram, while users older than 35 reported the greatest gains from abstaining from Facebook. The findings suggest that different platforms may affect demographic groups in distinct ways.
Despite the positive mental-health results, participants did not use their newly freed time for offline activities or in-person pursuits. Instead, the study showed that they largely migrated to other social networks, swapping one platform for another rather than disconnecting from social media altogether.
The research adds to a growing body of evidence examining the relationship between social-media use and well-being, underscoring both the potential benefits of reduced use and the difficulty of shifting behavior away from online ecosystems.
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