A One-Week Break From Social Media: What a Randomized Trial Found

Could one week away from your feeds change how you feel? A team at the University of Bath in England put that to a randomized trial, and after seven days the difference was large enough to show up on standard depression and anxiety questionnaires.

What the researchers did

The study, by Lambert and colleagues, was published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking in 2022. Between November 2020 and March 2021 it enrolled 154 adults who used social media every day and were willing to stop for a week. They were recruited through social media and word of mouth (the study also made the local news and radio), and they weren't paid.

A virtual coin toss split them into two groups:

• The break group (81 people) was asked to stay off Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok for one week. They got an optional tip sheet: sign out, delete the apps, turn off their notifications, use an app blocker.
• The control group (73 people) carried on as usual.

Everyone filled in three standard questionnaires at the start and again a week later: well-being (the Warwick-Edinburgh scale), depression (the PHQ-8) and anxiety (the GAD-7). At the end, they also sent screenshots of their phone's screen time.

What they found

The break group really did take a break. At the start, both groups said they spent about eight hours a week on the four platforms (510 and 485 minutes). During the week off, the break group reported 21 minutes in total, while the control group reported about seven and a half hours.

Their scores moved with it. Well-being rose from 46.0 to 55.9 in the break group, while the control group's barely changed (about 44 to 45). After accounting for starting scores, age and gender, the break group came out 4.9 points higher on well-being, 2.2 points lower on depression and 1.7 points lower on anxiety.

Two details stand out. The drop in depression held only for people who started with at least a few symptoms, which was 72% of the sample. And part of each benefit was explained by the time freed up: for depression, less time on Twitter and TikTok carried part of the effect; for anxiety, less time on TikTok alone.

What the study can't tell you

The follow-up was the last day of the break, so the study can't say whether the gains last, or what happens once people log back in.

The volunteers were people willing to quit for a week. The authors note that many who were interested declined because they didn't want a break, so the sample may lean toward lighter or more motivated users. Most participants were young white women in higher education, which limits how far the results reach.

Participants knew which group they were in, the questionnaires were self-reported, and the researchers weren't blinded to the groups, so expectations could have colored some answers. The trial also ran during the COVID-19 pandemic, when social media use may not have been typical.

What it means for your phone

A week off is a small, realistic experiment, and this trial suggests it's worth running.

• Prepare the exit. The tips the participants got work for anyone: sign out, move or delete the apps, turn off their notifications, and add a blocker for the moments you forget.
• Notice what you miss. By the end of the week you'll know which apps you missed and which you only reached for out of habit.
• Plan the return. The study stops where the hard part starts. Bring back only what earned its place, with a limit attached.

Unrotten is built for that return: choose the apps you want to use less, then give them a daily limit with Less scrolling, or keep them locked during the hours you choose with Time away from apps. For why feeds are so hard to leave in the first place, read our guide to social media addiction.