does watching youtube make you depressed?

questionable content and relationships between creators and their followers can have a negative impact on the mental health of viewers, according to researchers.

by dave yasvinski

published may 17, 2023

last updated jan 04, 2024

2 minute read

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2 minute read

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the platform can make anxiety, loneliness and depression worse.

“from a public health perspective, youtube represents a good example of the social and clinical consequences of social media use," researchers wrote. getty

people who spend vast amounts of time on youtube may experience higher levels of anxiety, loneliness and depression, according to a study that recommends limiting exposure to the world’s most-used streaming platform. the research, published by the journal informatics, hoped to glean a better understand of the impact, positive or negative, that youtube has on the mental health of its users. it found the platform had the most negative effect on people under the age of 29 or those who were consumed with content that focused on other people’s lives.

although researchers were concerned about the development of parasocial relationships — one-sided interactions between content creators and their followers — they also found evidence of neutral or positives relationships between the two.

“these online ‘relationships’ can fill a gap for people who, for example, have social anxiety, however it can exacerbate their issues when they don’t engage in face-to-face interactions, which are especially important in developmental years,” said dr. luke balcombe, lead author of the study from the australian institute for suicide research and prevention (aisrap).

“we recommend individuals limit their time on youtube and seek out other forms of social interaction to combat loneliness and promote positive mental health.”

the study, which classified more than two hours of youtube consumption per day as high frequency use and more than five hours a day as saturated use, concluded that more needs to be done to prevent suicide-related content from being served up to users. although this sort of content should, ideally, be difficult to find, researchers said the platform’s algorithm provides recommendations based on previous searches that can send viewers down a “rabbit hole.”

inappropriate videos can be reported — a process that may lead to removal — but the massive amount of content on youtube means it can take days or weeks for this to happen, if at all. if content has been flagged as potentially containing self-harm or suicide-related topics, youtube provides a warning that asks viewers if they wish to continue. according to researchers, this process can be improved.

“with vulnerable children and adolescents who engage in high frequency use, there could be value in monitoring and intervention through artificial intelligence,” balcombe said. “we’ve explored human-computer interaction issues and proposed a concept for an independent-of-youtube algorithmic recommendation system which will steer users toward verified positive mental health content or promotions.”

overall, the study found that youtube can have a positive or negative effect on mental health that is complicated by parasocial relationships and an algorithm that can serve up questionable content. “from a public health perspective, youtube represents a good example of the social and clinical consequences of social media use,” the paper concludes.

“primary prevention is the best strategy to address the problem of safeguarding vulnerable and at-risk individuals. risk awareness is required for vulnerable youtube users and those responsible for them regarding some content on suicide being potentially inaccurate or unsafe.”

dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca

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