Social Media Doesn’t Alleviate Boredom, According To Science

We all use our cell phones to entertain ourselves in times of boredom. We look at notifications, messages, comments, published photos, breaking news… We believe that these moments help us to clear our minds. However, according to science, social media does not alleviate boredom. What they do is something very different.

Some point out that certain platforms look like rooms full of people yelling at each other. Despite not hearing the exchange of words, the cacophony of certain tweets , for example, is etched in our minds as stressful echoes. Something similar happens on other networks. We go in to have fun for a few minutes and sometimes come out more irritated than relaxed.

Some point out that, due to this fatigue of social networks, many users are deleting their profiles or practicing what is known as “digital detox”. However, perhaps the most striking problem resides in the younger population: they are increasingly intolerant of boredom and experience high doses of anxiety when they don’t have a screen in front of them.

Why doesn’t social media alleviate boredom?

Social media does not alleviate boredom and actually worsen the mental health of many people. This was noted by a 2020 survey conducted at the California Institute of Neuroscience and Behavioral Psychology . It is true that this impact is not the same around the world; there are those who make good use of them and obtain pleasant benefits.

However, the numbers of discomfort and stress associated with its intensive use are remarkable and impressive. There are those who get addicted to that small daily dose of dopamine obtained in each publication. Others only understand life through this digital universe in which they compare themselves and where, of course, it is forbidden to lose anything published at the last second.

Somehow, many of these points were already known to us. What science had not yet addressed was the effect of social networks over short periods of time. In other words, do they help us to be entertained and relieve stress or the occasional boredom at work, on breaks, on the subway, etc.? The answer is no. Let’s understand why.

Short periods of time with the cell phone don’t improve our mood

It was Radboud University, in the Netherlands, that carried out this interesting study to find out if social media, as everyone believes, helps us to clear our minds when we are stressed or when we have a brief moment of rest. The results were published in the Royal Society Open Science and couldn’t be more interesting.

• Social media doesn’t alleviate boredom. After using them, people felt more tired and even stressed.
• It was also possible to see something that we can all agree on. We don’t use the cell phone only during breaks. We don’t just resort to social media in lost moments. The cell phone is not a form of leisure, it is a way of life. We use our devices even in the most inexplicable situations. Therefore, it is difficult to differentiate moments of rest from moments of work.

The sense of urgency: if you don’t check your phone, you’re missing something

The need for us to verify the cell phone is not accidental. In fact, if social media doesn’t alleviate boredom, it’s also due to a purpose that deserves to be highlighted. Each application is looking for something very specific: for us to make intensive use of them.

All these platforms use very sophisticated techniques to keep us stuck to them. The sense of urgency, the idea that we will lose something if we don’t look at the cell phone is a very recurrent experience.

This entire digital universe was not designed to alleviate boredom or to be entertainment in moments of leisure. What he seeks is to addict us.

If social media doesn’t alleviate boredom, let’s find other ways to escape

There are many ways to deal with boredom, but the most important thing is to learn to tolerate it without despair. In fact, if there is one thing that this frame of mind allows us to do, it is to look for other sources that we can keep busy with, and that can be both enriching and rewarding if we choose them well.

Reading, listening to music or doing some artistic activity are exceptional resources for the mind and for our psychological well-being. They harmonize emotions, regulate stress and increase creativity.

If we try, we will realize that there are wonderful universes beyond a cell phone screen and the incessant noise of social networks.