- Researchers asked 36,000 Americans to quit Facebook and Instagram before the 2020 election
- Quitting Facebook improved emotional well-being, especially for users over 35 years old
- Instagram detox mostly helped women aged 18 to 24, with smaller emotional benefits
Researchers at Stanford University asked 36,000 Americans to log off Facebook and Instagram before the 2020 US presidential election, the New York Post reported. The results of this study were stunning as participants found that quitting Facebook improved emotional well-being, especially among users over 35. Instagram detox, on the other hand, helped mostly women aged between 18 and 24. For a detailed analysis, researchers, including Hunt Allcott and Matthew Gentzkow, conducted the study on 19,857 Facebook users and 15,585 Instagram users.
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All the participants were above 18 years old and had used the app for at least 15 minutes per day. They were split into two - about 27% were paid to deactivate their accounts for six weeks leading up to the election, and the rest served as a control group and only logged off for one week.
Those who deactivated Facebook reported better emotional well-being compared to the control group. Meanwhile, Instagram users saw a smaller change. Their emotional state rose very slightly, but the result didn't hold up under stricter statistical tests. The clearest Instagram gains were among women 18-24.
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Did deactivating apps really help?
The researchers expected people to replace scrolling with real-world activity. That didn't happen. Most of the time freed up from Instagram, and much of the time from Facebook, was redirected to other apps. The mood boost seemed to come from leaving the platforms themselves, not from less screen time overall.
But still, the study is crucial because of its size and timing. It's also important as it confirms that Facebook and Instagram affect users differently.
The finding doesn't mean social media is evil as many experts call it. Most users still think the platforms provide value. But the experiment shows the cost is real, measurable, and reversible in weeks.
Past Facebook deactivation research, like a 2019 Stanford-NYU study of 2,844 people, found that a month off improved happiness and cut news consumption. A 2015 Danish experiment with 1,095 people found that a one-week break increased life satisfaction and positive emotions.
