Lose sleep over social media? You’re not alone

Social media has become such an integral part of our lives these days. Sixty-nine per cent of Australians are active on social media with 57 per cent accessing social media every day. That amounts to a lot of hours that we spend looking through posts, uploading photos, sharing, commenting and engaging with people. In fact, an average user spends a whopping 12.5 hours a week on Facebook and 18–29-year-olds are the heaviest users of social media. Apparently, this age group is likely spend time on social media at work, in the bedroom and in the toilet.

All of this time spent on social media is going to have consequences — and a new study show it’s so.

Researchers say that one in five young people lose sleep over social media as they stay awake at night to check or send messages on social media. This is making teenagers feel three times more tired than their peers, and researchers say that this could be affecting their wellbeing and happiness.

About 900 students aged 12 to 15 years old were asked to fill out a questionnaire in which they were asked about their night-time activity with regards to social media usage: how often they woke up to use social media and the times of going to bed and waking. They were also asked about their happiness on various aspects of their life including school life, friendships and appearance.

There are increasing concerns that social media is invading the sanctuary of the bedroom, leading to students arriving tired and stressed at school.

What researchers found was alarming, raising concerns for the wellbeing of young people. One in five people reported almost always waking up every night to check social media, and over one-third woke up at least once a week. Girls were found to be more active than boys and more likely to wake up at night to check social media.

Young people who woke up through the night to check social media and those who woke up at irregular times in the morning were three times likely to be constantly tired at school the next day compared to those who woke up at a regular time in the morning or never woke up to access social media. In fact, those who said that they were constantly tired were significantly less happy than other young people.

Use of social media at night is a great cause of concern for parents as this is affecting young people and how they feel the next day. It affects their wellbeing and happiness. Previous studies have reported a link between social media and depression, too.

However, researchers also say that the reasons for tiredness at school can have complex social explanations and further investigations are necessary to form any firm conclusions about social media and its consequences for tiredness and unhappiness.

Needless to say, young people are staying awake at night to check social messages, and that itself is a cause for concern for most parents.

Source: Taylor & Francis