York University students cut out social media for a week. The results ‘amazed’ researchers

“The less people are on (social media), the better,” paper co-author Jennifer Mills said. “There isn’t much convincing evidence it helps people feel better about themselves or it actually helps them to feel more connected to other people.”

Mills, a psychology professor at York, and co-authors Olivia Smith and Lindsay Samson randomly assigned participants to two groups — one that would continue as normal, and another that would cut out social media for a week. They took a baseline reading of participants’ self-esteem and how satisfied they were with their body, then brought the participants back one week later to assess them again.

The researchers confirmed the participants stayed off social media by checking their screen time usage at the end of the week.

And while the results — higher self-esteem and body satisfaction among the group off social media — were expected given previous research, the magnitude of the results was a surprise.

“Statistically, I was really amazed,” Mills said. “We had effect sizes that were larger than I’m used to seeing in this line of research, so that suggests that it is a robust or strong effect … This is something we would expect to see in the real world.”

Two potential limitations to the study are that participants were already motivated to cut out social media, Mills said, and they self-reported how they felt about themselves.

Why body image matters

The young women who were studied fall into a demographic that is uniquely vulnerable to poor body image, according to Catherine Sabiston, a professor at the University of Toronto who specializes in body image and mental health and was not connected to the York study.

“That emerging adulthood time frame of identity and of self and getting to know your environment and who you are, all of that makes for a particularly vulnerable period,” Sabiston said. “This group is vulnerable to not only poor body image but also then the outcomes of poor body image.”

Those outcomes can be psychological, including poor self-esteem and a high correlation with depression and anxiety, or can manifest physically.

People with poor body image are more apt to eat poorly and restraining their food intake, the extreme of which includes eating disorders, according to Sabiston. They are also more likely to use weight-change substances and illegal drugs that change the body, she said.

What you can do

Mills started researching the impact of fashion and beauty magazines on women’s body image in the 1990s. Then, you could only buy one of each magazine a month — and once you read through it, it was done.

But social media is everywhere and endless, Mills said. It is also made up of your peers.

“We expect supermodels to have perfect bodies, but seeing perfected images of people who are the same age as you … that could have an even bigger impact,” Mills explained.

Mills recommends limiting your time on social media — and is off the platforms entirely herself. It can start small with a day or an hour, or even just by measuring how much time you spend on those apps — data that is easily accessible in your phone’s settings.

Sabiston recommends replacing that time with a mindfulness app, texting friends who make you feel good, or exercise. She also recommends positive affirmations, self-talk or even giving yourself a hug.

If you can’t cut out social media, you can at least curate your feed to be more positive.

“Anyone that you follow that doesn’t make you feel happy and good, stop following those individuals,” Sabiston said. “You can control your own destiny.”