The DOI matches its Crossref record; 109 of the 111 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Are Social Media Ruining Our Lives? A Review of Meta-Analytic Evidence
Abstract
A growing number of studies have examined the psychological corollaries of using social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter (often called social media). The interdisciplinary research area and conflicting evidence from primary studies complicate the assessment of current scholarly knowledge in this field of high public attention. We review meta-analytic evidence on three hotly debated topics regarding the effects of SNSs: well-being, academic achievement, and narcissism. Meta-analyses from different laboratories draw a rather equivocal picture. They show small associations in the r = .10 range between the intensity of SNS use and loneliness, self-esteem, life satisfaction, or self-reported depression, and somewhat stronger links to a thin body ideal and higher social capital. There is no indication for potential devastating effects of social media on school achievement; social media use and school grades are unrelated for adolescents. The meta-analyses revealed small to moderate associations between narcissism and SNS use. In sum, meta-analytic evidence is not in support of dramatic claims relating social media use to mischief.
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“Meta-analyses have identified small or negligible negative links between social media use and well-being6,7”
From Windows of developmental sensitivity to social media (2022) · cites this paper as [7]
In the citing paper
“Usually, new technologies tend to have complex and multilayered effects on individuals and societies, which are not simply black or white; that is, the question whether digital technologies have desirable or problematic effects on autobiographical remembering is likely to be too superficial to account for the complexity of reality (cf.Appel et al., 2020;Orben & Przybylski, 2019).”
From Understanding Autobiographical Memory in the Digital Age: The AMEDIA-Model (2024) · cites this paper as Appel et al., 2020
In the citing paper
“A power analysis using G*Power based on a small-to-medium effect size (f2 = 0.09) between social media use and each of our dependent variables indicated that a sample size of 200 provides 90 percent power (α = 0.05) to detect a significant effect; we intentionally oversampled and aimed to recruit 250 participants to account for participants who opt out of providing blood samples.”
From Social Media Use and Its Link to Physical Health Indicators (2022) · cites this paper as [42]
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Educational Research and Innovation
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InfluentialNo effect of different types of media on well-being
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“Meta-analytic and other systematic reviews of the relationship between use of new media and psychological well-being (Appel et al., 2019; Orben, 2020) and correlational evidence from large-scale datasets (Orben & Przybylski, 2019) have found that time spent using new media accounts for less than 1% of the variation in…”
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“Limited experimental studies hinder establishing causality between social media use and mental well-being (Appel et al., 2020).”
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Social Media and Mental Health
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Screen time and addictive use of gaming and social media in relation to health outcomes
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“Prior reviews or meta-analyses on either problematic SMU or more descriptive and non-pathological forms of SMU report primarily small, negative relationships between SMU and MH (Appel et al., 2020; Baker & Algorta, 2016; Best et al., 2014; Çikrıkci, 2016; Elhai et al., 2017; Glover & Fritsch, 2018; Huang, 2010, 2017;…”
Envy, Social Comparison, and Depression on Social Networking Sites: A Systematic Review
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“Recent developments in media and communication technologies have been the subject of heated public and scientific debate since the early 2000s, leading to a large number of studies focusing on the well-being of SM users [9,18].”
BackgroundMethodHow should we investigate variation in the relation between social media and well-being?Preprint
Johannes, N., Masur, P. K., Vuorre, M., & Przybylski, A. (2021) · Meta-Psychology · doi:10.31234/osf.io/xahbg · Cited by 24
“…between social media use and the average user’s well-being is close to zero and below any threshold for harm that would require intervention (Appel et al., 2020; Bayer et al., 2020; Dickson et al., 2019; Dienlin & Johannes, 2020; Kross et al., 2021; Odgers & Jensen, 2020; Orben, 2020b;…”
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Backgroundde Mello, V. O., Cheung, F., & Inzlicht, M. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/4x5em · Cited by 25
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“Thus, conflicting findings and null results have been reported in various studies especially those targeting social and emotional outcomes (Appel et al., 2020; Odgers & Jensen, 2020; Orben, 2020).”
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Gong, Z., Guo, Y., & Tan, J. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1649890 · Cited by 60
Digital Engagement and Academic Functioning: A Developmental-Contextual Approach
Hietajärvi, L., Maksniemi, E., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2022) · European Psychologist · doi:10.1027/1016-9040/a000480 · Cited by 23
“…al. (2018) concluded that when the original studies had used objective measures of achievement, such a negative relation was not evident (see also Appel et al., 2019) and longitudinal evidence, however, does not indicate that multitasking would be directly or indirectly related to academic…”
Ni, Y., & Jia, F. (2023) · Children · doi:10.3390/children10030491 · Cited by 31
“[22] reviewed meta-analytic evidence and found intensive use of social media apps is positively associated with loneliness, depression, and narcissism.”
BackgroundMomentary motivations for digital disconnection: an experience sampling study
Klingelhoefer, J., Gilbert, A., & Meier, A. (2024) · Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication · doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmae013 · Cited by 21
Krause, H.-V., Deters, F. G., Baumann, A., & Krasnova, H. (2022) · Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication · doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmac037 · Cited by 20
Zhao, L. (2023) · Psychology in the Schools · doi:10.1002/pits.22912 · Cited by 19
Virós-Martín, C., Morales, M. J., & Blasco, M. M. (2025) · Revista de Comunicación · doi:10.26441/rc24.1-2025-3774 · Cited by 19
Social media use and personality: Beyond self-reports and trait-level assessments
Freyth, L., Batinic, B., & Jonason, P. K. (2022) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2022.111960 · Cited by 25
“…(Fox & Rooney, 2015; Huang, 2019), the research in this area, like that of psychology in general may have become a science of self-reported behaviors (Baumeister, Vohs, & Funder, 2007) when there might be ways to capture people's online behavior more objectively (Appel, Marker, & Gnambs, 2020).”
BackgroundSocial network use and life satisfaction: a systematic review
Akkaş, C., & Turan, A. H. (2024) · Mental Health and Social Inclusion · doi:10.1108/mhsi-03-2023-0037 · Cited by 19
Johns, B. T. (2024) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.13413 · Cited by 18
The mental health and well-being profile of young adults using social media
Cara, N. H. D., Winstone, L., Sloan, L., Davis, O. S. P., & Haworth, C. M. A. (2022) · npj Mental Health Research · doi:10.1038/s44184-022-00011-w · Cited by 24
Working, scrolling, and worrying: Doomscrolling at work and its implications for work engagement
Hughes, I. M., Keith, M. G., Lee, J., & Gray, C. E. (2024) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.108130 · Cited by 18
Mäder, S., Costantini, D., Fahr, A., & Jordan, M. D. (2024) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117595 · Cited by 18
Lambert, L., Joshanloo, M., Marquez, J., Cody, B. L., Arora, T., Warren, M. A., Aguilar, L., Samways, M., & Teasel, S. (2022) · International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology · doi:10.1007/s41042-022-00066-2 · Cited by 14
“1 3 how it is used, to what degree, by whom and with what pre-existing factors (Appel et al., 2020).”
BackgroundJarman, H. K., McLean, S. A., Paxton, S. J., Sibley, C. G., & Marques, M. D. (2022) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-022-02363-2 · Cited by 17
“07; [15, 16]), although it appears that this relationship is somewhat dependent on indicators of well-being.”
BackgroundFabio, R. A., & Iaconis, S. M. (2024) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph21101305 · Cited by 14
“Internet usage, particularly among university students, is notable for its benefits [3] and is increasingly prevalent in older age groups [4].”
BackgroundThe interconnection between social media addiction, alexithymia and empathy in medical students
Ursoniu, S., Bredicean, A. C., Șerban, C. L., Rivis, I. A., Bucur, A., Papavă, I., & Giurgi-Oncu, C. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1467246 · Cited by 14
“For instance, there is evidence that frequent engagement in certain behaviors can reinforce or even modify certain personality traits over time, suggesting a bidirectional relationship (61, 62).”
Hutmacher, F., Schläger, L., & Meerson, R. (2023) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.4033 · Cited by 14
Social media and mental health: Reviewing effects on eudaimonic well-beingPreprint
Meier, A., & Reinecke, L. (2021) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/xvts8 · Cited by 23
Serrano, D. M., Williams, P. S., Ezzeddine, L., & Sapon, B. (2022) · Learning: Research and Practice · doi:10.1080/23735082.2022.2100920 · Cited by 18
Engberg, E., Hietajärvi, L., Maksniemi, E., Lahti, J. M. T., Lonka, K., Salmela‐Aro, K., & Viljakainen, H. T. (2022) · Mental health and physical activity · doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2022.100448 · Cited by 17
Emerging adults’ digital technology engagement and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
Chase, G. E., Brown, M. T., & Jensen, M. R. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1023514 · Cited by 14
“…using various methods (Nesi and Prinstein, 2015; Nesi et al., 2017; Jensen et al., 2019; Coyne et al., 2020), including meta-analyses and reviews (Appel et al., 2020; Odgers and Jensen, 2020; Tang et al., 2021) conclude that digital technology engagement has small, negligible, or mixed effects…”
MethodMayen, S., Reinhardt, A., & Wilhelm, C. (2025) · Journal of Children and Media · doi:10.1080/17482798.2024.2443662 · Cited by 18
“Findings from meta-analyses, systematic and narrative reviews, and large-scale cross-sectional studies present mixed evidence (e.g., Appel et al., 2020; Orben, 2020; Orben & Przybylski, 2019, Valkenburg, 2022; Orben et al., 2019).”
Does social media harm young people’s well-being? A suggestion from economic research
Pugno, M. (2025) · Academia Mental Health and Well-Being · doi:10.20935/mhealthwellb7581 · Cited by 19
Metadata
- Authors
- Appel, M., Marker, C., & Gnambs, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Würzburg (DE)
- Johannes Kepler University of Linz (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Appel, Markus
- Venue
- Review of General Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-10-16
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 60-74
- ISSN
- 1089-2680 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1552
- OpenAlex
- W2981075629
- Semantic Scholar
- cbd4f71d3c79a5521394000d393dd6917cb231b8
- Cited by
- 290
- References
- 111
- Citations by year
- 2026: 43 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 14
- FWCI
- 48.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Review of General Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (AP 207/2-1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Communication › Digital Media and Philosophy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Keywords
- social media use, social networking sites, well-being, loneliness, self-esteem, life satisfaction, depression, thin ideal, social capital, academic performance, narcissism, adolescents, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
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