In particular, one psychological implication of social media that has been widely studied is related to the mental health and well-being of individuals. In light of its pervasiveness throughout society, laypersons and researchers alike have taken an interest in the psychological effects of social media (David et al., 2018 Perloff, 2014 Saiphoo & Vahedi, 2019 Vogel et al., 2015).
Social media, which was traditionally only used as a simple communication platform, has now evolved into a crucial platform for the creation and transmission of user-generated content, amongst various other uses (Hunter, 2020 Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010 Kim & Johnson, 2016 Lardo et al., 2017). Indeed, in the last decade alone, social media platforms have almost tripled their total user base, from 970 million in 2010 to more than 4.72 billion users in 2021 (GlobalWebIndex, 2015 Kemp, 2021 Pew Research Center, 2021 Statista Research Department, 2020). Since its inception in the 1990s, social media has been adopted by more than half of the 7.7 billion people in the world, and the number is projected to continue increasing (GlobalWebIndex, 2015 Pew Research Center, 2021 Statista Research Department, 2021b).
We discuss the various theoretical, methodological and practical implications of these findings and highlight areas where further research is necessary to shed light on the complex and nuanced relationship between social media and well-being. Additionally, the impact of various moderators on the relationship between social media and well-being was found to vary. Overall, our study found that the relationship between social media usage and well-being was not significant in the context of COVID-19. The current meta-analysis systematically investigated 155 effect sizes from 42 samples drawn from 38 studies published during the COVID-19 pandemic ( N = 43,387) and examined the potential moderators in the relationship between social media and well-being, such as the different operationalizations of social media usage and demographics. In light of these inconclusive findings, the aim of our meta-analysis was to synthesize previous research data in order to have a holistic understanding of the association between social media and well-being, particularly in the present context of COVID-19. These mixed findings continue to extend into the pandemic, with researchers debating over the effects of social media in the new norms of social isolation. However, the current literature on social media and well-being has provided mixed and inconclusive findings, thus creating a polarizing view of social media. Social media, one of the most pervasive forms of technology, has been widely studied in relation to the mental health and well-being of individuals.
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