How has social media affected mental health during the pandemic?

Worldwide, statistics suggest mental health has declined since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Is social media partly to blame?

What are the links between mental health status and social media use during the pandemic? We investigate.

On a global scale, social media can be a way for people to gather information, share ideas, and reach out to others facing similar challenges. It can also be an effective platform to relay information quickly during a national or worldwide crisis.

This global reach is what has made social media a critical communication platform during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As government health organizations used it to relay recent findings on prevention and treatment, social media became more than a place to post the latest vacation photos — it became a hub of pandemic-related information.

But has the use of social media during the pandemic negatively impacted mental health and well-being? Or has it had the opposite effect?