Social media can have a significant impact on sleep due to various factors such as blue light exposure, fear of missing out (FoMO), and compulsive social media use. Here’s a breakdown of the key points from the search results:
Blue Light and Sleep Disturbances:
Checking social media, sending emails, or looking at the news before bed can keep us awake, as nighttime use of electronics can affect sleep through the stimulating-effects of light from digital screens. The blue light emitted from electronic screens has the greatest impact on sleep, interfering with our circadian rhythms, which control processes like the sleep-wake cycle
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Association Between Social Media Use and Sleep Disturbances:
Initial research suggests an association between sleep disturbances and social media use. Factors such as blue light exposure, fear of missing out when offline, and noisy alerts and notifications are known culprits of poor sleep health in the digital age. People who scroll through social media on electronic devices in the hours leading up to bedtime or at night may encounter a range of sleep problems due to blue light exposure
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Compulsive Social Media Use and Sleep Hygiene:
Compulsive social media use and sleep hygiene exert differential mediational influences on problematic sleep. Psychological well-being influences compulsive social media use, which, in concurrence with sleep habits, influences the association between fear of missing out and problematic sleep. This suggests the need for interventions to reduce the deleterious impact of social media on sleep
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Bidirectional Relationship and Sleep Quality:
The relationship between social media use and sleep quality is likely bidirectional, with poor sleepers and those with naturally later circadian preferences turning to social media as a sleep aid or to pass time until they fall asleep. Additionally, depressed individuals tend to interpret their social media interactions more negatively, indicating a complex interplay between social media use and mental health
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Impact on Adolescents:
High levels of electronic device use and its relationship with sleep quality, daily dysfunction, sleep duration, and depression among adolescents are worthy of issue awareness among health managers, parents, and teachers for providing interventions
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Pre-sleep Social Media Use and Sleep Disturbance:
Contrary to popular belief, a sleep laboratory study found that pre-sleep social media consumption did not disturb sleep or lead to increased arousal. The study tested the effects of 30 minutes of social media use on arousal and subsequent sleep in healthy young volunteers and found no significant disturbance
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Recommendations and Future Research:
The impact of social media on sleep is an emerging area of study, and researchers are increasingly recognizing the need to update approaches to understanding the unique social, emotional, and cognitive aspects of social media use. More research is needed to understand the relationship between social media use and sleep quality, particularly in young adults
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