A new study of data from 168 countries published by the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) has found that internet use is consistently associated with positive wellbeing.
Researchers analysed data gathered between 2006 and 2021 from two million individuals aged between 15 and 99 worldwide, including from countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. They concluded that people who had internet access or actively used the internet reported higher levels of social wellbeing and life satisfaction. In 85 per cent of cases, there was positive associations between internet connectivity and wellbeing.
Notably, the study did not look at the impacts of social media in particular, but instead assessed the impact of having access to the internet.
The study challenges the widespread belief that internet use harms wellbeing. Notably, in the EU and UK, concerns about the internet’s impact on mental welfare have spurred the creation of new laws. The study’s authors argued that regulators considering new laws should not be “guided by anecdote” and should listen to the science.
“I anticipate that this work will be in some ways seen in contrast to the kind of the current social conversation surrounding tech,” said professor Andrew Przybylski, of Oxford University, who led the research. “If we’re going to make the online world safe for young people, we can’t just go in guns blazing with strong beliefs and a one size fits all solution. We really need to make sure that we’re sensitive to having our minds changed by data.”
The OII added that some of its findings are still “consistent” with reported links between social media use and depressive symptoms among young women. In 5 per cent of cases, there was an association linking internet use and community wellbeing, with most of those observed among young women aged 15 to 24.
Researchers did not conclude that these findings mean internet access causes them unhappiness, the paper notes that it is “consistent with previous reports of increased cyberbullying and more negative associations between social media use and depressive symptoms among young women”.