Ask an Expert: How does social media impact mental health?

ALBANY, N.Y (May 5, 2026) — Psychology Assistant Professor Sarah Domoff, whose research explores the intersection of social media and youth mental health, answers today’s question: How does social media impact mental health? 

A woman with curly brown hair wearing a gray blazer and navy shirt smiles for a portrait in front of a gray backdrop.
Assistant Professor of Psychology Sarah Domoff. (Photo by Brian Busher)

Domoff: Research has shown both positives and negatives when it comes to social media use and how it may impact our feelings, thoughts and behaviors. Let's start with the positives — think about a funny video your friends shared with you or a clip you saw of an adorable dog doing an outlandish trick. How did seeing this content make you feel in the moment? For many of us, seeing such content, as well as using social media to connect with friends and family, are examples of the positive side of using social media. When we see content that is generally positive and when we use social media to maintain connections with loved ones, social media use may be beneficial.

Just as content matters for positive experiences, negative experiences are affected by the type of content we see. Having negative online interactions (like cyberbullying) or seeing content that is overwhelming or stressful (like news coverage) is associated with ill-being. People with underlying mental health symptoms may experience worsened symptoms when encountering harmful content. Importantly, research backs up the power of taking breaks. Some early studies show that for users struggling with mental health concerns (like depression), time away from social media may be beneficial.

It is important to note that social media impacts us all differently, and we can have both positive and negative experiences online. In our studies, we’ve found that understanding how social media may be impacting you can help guide changes to better support your wellbeing. 

We created a toolkit to help with this. Here’s a direct link to our mini-course. Or, for Instagram users, the materials are also available here.

 

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