In crisis or thinking about suicide? In the US, call or text 988 any time, day or night. More ways to get help now.

Manage Social Addiction

Why cut back

You don't need to quit completely to feel a difference. Controlled studies suggest that even moderate reductions can bring real, if modest, improvements.

What experiments have found

Less time, less loneliness

In a University of Pennsylvania experiment, 143 college students were randomly assigned either to continue using social media as usual or to limit Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat to 10 minutes each per day for three weeks. The limited group showed significant drops in loneliness and depression compared with the control group, and the effect was strongest for students who started out more depressed.1

A month off, and time back

In a larger randomized study, adults who deactivated Facebook for four weeks freed up about an hour a day on average. They spent more of it offline, including with friends and family, and reported small but meaningful gains in wellbeing. Many kept using Facebook less after the study ended.2

Limits you set yourself

When adults in another experiment were given a simple tool to set their own daily time limits, they used social media significantly less, and many said they valued the tool enough to want to keep it. Reducing use also reduced behaviors linked to addiction, such as losing sleep to scrolling.3

What people often notice

  • Better sleep. Nearly half of teens say social media cuts into their sleep.4 Keeping phones out of the bedroom is one of the most commonly recommended changes.
  • Steadier mood. Less comparison, less doom, and fewer hits of outrage.
  • More focus. Longer stretches of attention for work, school, reading, and conversation.
  • Time back. An hour a day adds up to more than two weeks a year.
  • Closer connection. Freed-up time often goes to the people right in front of you.

An honest caveat

The measured benefits in these studies are real but usually modest, and they vary from person to person. Cutting back isn't a cure for depression or anxiety, and if you're struggling, professional support matters. It's also worth planning for what you might miss. If social media is how you stay close to certain people, build other ways to keep in touch before you step away.

See practical approaches for cutting back

Sources

  1. Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751 to 768.
  2. Allcott, H., Braghieri, L., Eichmeyer, S., & Gentzkow, M. (2020). The welfare effects of social media. American Economic Review, 110(3), 629 to 676.
  3. Allcott, H., Gentzkow, M., & Song, L. (2022). Digital addiction. American Economic Review, 112(7), 2424 to 2463.
  4. Pew Research Center. Teens, Social Media and Mental Health (April 2025; survey of U.S. teens 13 to 17 and their parents, fall 2024).