Exalted discussions and the need to download messages on social networks are a well-known phenomenon for their users, 60% of the people in the world who have access to the internet. Those behind a screen who post daily—and several times a day—on Instagram, X, Facebook or TikTok may be prone to developing greater feelings of anger. This is suggested by a new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
The director of the Center for Quantitative Health at Massachusetts General Hospital (USA), Roy Perlis, together with his research team, conducted a survey on-line between November 2023 and January 2024 to 42,597 American adults. The scientists analyzed the frequency of social media use, the number of posts per day and the frequency of following news and political information through a test designed by the scientists to measure irritability.
The survey reflects that people who use these platforms periodically are more likely to feel angry or upset, especially those who publish several times a day, which represent 16.2% of the sample. The scale of the experiment indicates that respondents who browse social networks “more than once a day” scored 1.43 points more than those who do not. And respondents who use them “most of the day” scored an additional 3.37 points.
In particular, X and Tiktok users who spend more time on the platforms reached high levels of anger. “We cannot conclude from our study that social media use makes people more irritable. What we do know is that there is a relationship between irritability and interaction with these platforms,” explains Perlis, lead author of the study. The survey’s conclusions, according to his team, suggest that the consequences of social media use in the real world “deserve further study.”
Frequent arguments between users—regardless of political affiliation—were also associated with angry responses. On the contrary, those who limited themselves to only following current news reported a moderate decrease in anger levels.
Problem amplifiers
Although the study does not address the degree of dependence of individuals, the main researcher points out that there are undoubtedly respondents who regularly use social networks. Simone Digennaro, associate professor at the Department of Human Sciences, Society and Health at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (Italy), believes that, to some extent, this is a kind of “double effect.”
“It is possible that people who are more likely to have these types of responses use social networks more and that this affects their health,” says this consultant in the field of pedagogy and new media who did not participate in the survey. Social networks, in Digennaro’s opinion, have amplified problems that are already part of society. “It is something that we must understand, because it is not completely clear,” he adds.
Digital platforms formed by large communities of strangers have significant impacts on mental health. Other research has linked its use to higher levels of anxiety or depression, but irritability “deserves a more detailed characterization,” the authors maintain in the study, which should be analyzed in greater depth.
Ignacio Morgado, professor at the Neuroscience Institute of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, explains that “people who go on social networks or read press of all kinds, seek to have their ideas reaffirmed. This is called confirmation bias,” explains the researcher, who was not part of the study. Messages in the digital world are quick and concise, which reinforces interactions, whether positive or negative.
According to Morgado, who is not surprised by the results of the study, people give more relevance to news that confirms their ideologies. “People get carried away by one or another brief piece of information. You go looking for one thing and end up stopping at others that have nothing to do with it,” he adds. On the other hand, he points out that reducing exposure to networks can obviously attenuate anger responses.
The older you are, the less anger
There are also differences in relation to the age of the respondents. Hilario Blasco, general director of EMOOTI Emotional Wellbeing, emphasizes that the impact is less the older you are. “Adults over 65 years of age in the sample have less irritability, which is to be expected because they are less exposed,” says the expert, who did not participate in the research.
Digennaro also highlights this point of the study. In 2024, he led an analysis on the use of social networks in adolescents, but for the researcher it is important to observe both the new generations that are growing up with technology and adults. “For the older group the impact is less and this is because they have a clear distinction between real life and social networks,” he says.
