By Lily Hautau, CNN
(CNN) — While most youth around the world are happier today than they were 20 years ago, it’s not true for the United States, other English-speaking countries and parts of Western Europe.
That’s according to the latest World Happiness Report, which is released annually on the International Day of Happiness, designated by the United Nations as March 20.
Social media may be in part to blame, and this year’s happiness report found that youth who used social media more than five hours daily reported a lower level of well-being.
The survey covers 96% of the world’s population in at least 140 countries annually, using a mix of in-person and phone interviews conducted in respondents’ native languages, Ilana Ron-Levey, managing director at Gallup, told CNN.
Researchers saw “declines in youth well-being in a subset of developed countries, particularly the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,” Ron-Levey said. The survey data also revealed some declines in France, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Ron-Levey found it interesting that youth well-being and happiness have risen in some central European countries, despite high internet penetration and widespread social media use, hypothesizing that it could be due to strong family relationships and strong social connections.
While the report does not conclude that social media is the dominant or only factor explaining these differences in youth well-being, it’s at least one of the factors, Ron-Levey said.
The report — produced with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent editorial board — may be best known for its annual ranking of the world’s happiest countries. But researchers also focus on issues affecting the well-being of different groups of people each year.
This year’s target is social media’s impact on well-being — and what researchers reported could change the way people think about how they use it.
Social media and the ‘trap’ effect
People are aware of the negative impacts such as feeling sad and anxious due to social media, coauthor Cass Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School, told CNN. So he wanted to explore why people can’t stop using it.
He analyzed three studies and found that “a lot of young people spend time on social media platforms only because other young people spend time on social media platforms — and they wish those platforms did not exist,” he said via email.
So why stay on these apps? One reason is social pressure and the fear of being the only one to opt out, his analysis showed.
Sunstein also found that people would not pay a lot to use social media platforms for a month but would need to be paid a lot of money to stay off them for the same period of time — even though it made them feel better.
“When people stay off Facebook for a month, they are happier, less anxious, and less depressed,” he said. “Even so, they would have to be paid about $85 to be off Facebook for another month,” and college students would need to be paid a fair bit to be off platforms like TikTok or Instagram for a month. Interestingly, they would pay for their peer group to be off the same apps.
“Social media should be considered an adult product regardless of circumstance,” said coauthor Zach Rausch, senior research scientist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, in an email.
Harm extends beyond mental health, he said. It’s important to consider high rates of cyberbullying, addiction, sexual solicitation and sextortion, to list a few.
Who is most vulnerable to heavy use
Heavy use appears to be the dividing line between youth who are happy and those who are not.
One analysis surveyed data from 15-year-olds from around the world and “found girls who use social media heavily are less satisfied with their lives,” said coauthor Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, via email.
This was true for boys only in some regions — “social media seems to be more toxic for girls than for boys,” said Twenge, who also challenged the idea that teen girls must be on social media to have a full social life. “In most regions, girls who did not use social media at all were the most likely to be completely satisfied with their lives.”
Despite social media use in the Middle East and North Africa ranking among the highest in the world, “the key takeaway is that social media use is not inherently harmful, but it becomes problematic at high intensity,” wrote coauthor Martijn Burger, professor of happiness economics at Open University in the United Kingdom, in an email.
When people spend more than about five hours per day on social media, researchers consistently observed lower well-being: more stress, more depressive symptoms and more negative comparisons with others, Burger said.
Burger and his fellow researchers also looked at social comparison, with the steady exposure to curated and idealized posts functioning as a key mechanism that undermines well-being. That’s especially true for those who deeply rely on social media, follow online influencers or use multiple platforms.
Why your friends’ scrolling can affect you
The effects of social media consumption on well-being can’t be distilled into one universal claim, largely due to the “peer group” effect.
“The internet is not equally good or bad for everyone — it depends heavily on who you are and the digital world surrounding you,” wrote coauthors Zeynep Ozkok, Jonathan Rosborough and Brandon Malloy, all associate professors of economics at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.
Social media use can be beneficial when peer-group exposure is low, they reported, but becomes increasingly harmful as engaging with online content becomes more widespread among one’s peers.
Researchers estimated that internet use is most harmful for Gen Z, less harmful for millennials, close to neutral for Gen X, and slightly beneficial for baby boomers. The generational differences reflect the reality that young people are online more than older people. It also suggests that extra online time is more strongly tied to feeling worse for them than it is for older generations.
The report authors also argued the internet may be worsening existing social problems rather than acting “as the sole root cause,” pointing to declining trust, fewer in-person friend meetups and the sense among many younger people that they’re falling behind socially.
What you watch affects your well-being
So what are people to do when social media seems to be everywhere? The World Happiness Report experts have some ideas.
Watch intensity, not just screen time. Burger’s work highlights a consistent drop in well-being beyond extremely heavy use of about five hours per day. “Interventions should focus less on reducing use overall, and more on encouraging healthier patterns of use,” he said.
Reduce comparison triggers. If your feed is dominated by influencers, “perfect life” content or algorithmic recommendations that leave you feeling worse, consistent with the mechanism Burger described, take conscious steps to change your online environment. Try curating your media feed by unfollowing or muting “perfect people” to reset your recommendations.
Create a way for your peer group to step away. Researchers suggest it’s easier to cut back when friends do it together. Try a shared agreement, such as phone-free lunches, one weekend day off from apps, or a two-week “no scrolling after 9 p.m.” pact.
Prioritize offline connections. Several World Happiness Report chapters tie well-being to trust, social bonds and real-world connection. If you reduce social media, replace it with other social activities like sports, clubs, volunteering or study groups rather than just removing it and feeling like a void remains.
Be wary of absolute claims, including your own. Dismissing harm from social media may be naive, but treating every new finding as definitive can also backfire. It’s OK to check in with family and friends frequently and adjust rules based on how social media is affecting your well-being.
Set an intensity guardrail. Limiting the use to about one hour a day appears to be the most optimal for an actual boost in well-being, according to Ron-Levey.
Parents are role models. “Parents can set the tone for how much social media their child is using, regardless of if they’re 8 years old or if they’re 16 years old. Parents play a building-a-port role in the social media debate,” Ron-Levey said.
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