A study recently carried out by the Oxford Internet Institute and published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, established that continuous use of the internet does not pose any risk to mental health.
This research goes against previous surveys that highlighted the risk of developing anxiety and depression as a result of using social networks and playing online games.
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Professor Andrew Przybylski, one of the study's co-authors, stated that the survey data can be used by regulatory bodies that want to develop public policies in this regard.
However, according to Przybylski, this information needs to be corroborated by technology companies that control social networks, demonstrating that their products really are harmless.
(Image: disclosure)
More study details
In total, the study carried out by the Oxford Internet Institute investigated the behavior of 2.4 million users between 2005 and 2022. In other words, the survey covered the entire period of the rise of social media and digital games.
Furthermore, study volunteers were between 15 and 89 years old and came from 168 countries.
For Andrew Przybylski and his team, the study made it clear that internet activity affects neither positively nor negatively people's psyches.
“Our results do not provide evidence to support the view that the Internet and the technologies it enables, such as smartphones with access to the Internet, are actively promoting or harming well-being or mental health globally,” the team said in communicated.
There are controversies
As mentioned above, the results of this study contrast with predictions made previously, which pointed out precisely for the relationship between the use of social networks and the practice of digital games with health problems mental.
In fact, several other studies that “proved” this were published in the 2010s, leading many bigtechs to be questioned and pressured to create mechanisms that limit the activity of their users.
In one of these questions, Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, was accused of allegedly inducing massive dissemination of harmful content to teenagers, who would be exposed to mental health problems due to surfing the internet social.
In any case, both theories still need further confirmation. Meanwhile, it is up to each user to manage their time online, balancing life on the internet with real life.
Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of working professionally as a Web Content Writer, writing articles in several different niches and formats.