A new survey from Mission Australia suggests that moderate social media use may not be detrimental to teenagers' mental health, challenging assumptions that all social media is harmful. The study, which surveyed 17,480 young Australians aged 15 to 19, found that those using social media for one to three hours daily reported similar or better mental health outcomes compared to low users.
The survey revealed that 97% of young people use social media daily, with 38% spending three or more hours per day and 53% spending one to three hours. Moderate users reported feeling more in control of their lives (61%) than low users (59%) and high users (51%). They were also as likely to seek help from parents (63%) as low users, compared to 52% for high users, and reported less difficulty socialising (26%) than low users (28%).
However, high social media use (three or more hours daily) was linked to worse mental health, including feeling negative about the future and loneliness. Gender diverse participants reported higher psychological distress (64%) compared to females (35%) and males (20%).
Youth mental health body Orygen, which led the analysis, said moderation is key. Lead author Dr Louise La Sala stated: 'There obviously been a dominant narrative that all social media use is bad for young people but actually what we found is that moderate users were faring better or the same as low users.' She noted that gender diverse young people often seek community online, and the study could not determine causality between distress and social media use.
The findings come as Australia prepares to ban under-16s from social media platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram in December. The survey found that over half (55%) of high social media users also participate in sports, challenging the idea that social media displaces other activities. La Sala emphasised that the ban should not be the endpoint, calling for improved digital literacy and ongoing efforts to make social media safer for all ages.
