Massive Study Discounts Adverse Effects of Internet on Mental Health

A study of the psychological well-being of two million individuals from 2005 to 2022 in 168 countries released this November by the Oxford Internet Institute found “smaller and less consistent associations than would be expected if the internet were causing widespread psychological harm.”

One focus area of the researchers was the potential impact of the internet on certain age and gender groups. Researchers meticulously tested whether there was anything special in terms of age or gender, but there was no evidence to support popular ideas that certain groups are more at risk.

In recent times, the internet has been accused of having harmful effects on younger users, such as exposing them to cyberbullying and inappropriate content, addicting them to online usage, and violating their privacy.

The researchers noted that filtering their results by age group and gender did not reveal any specific demographic patterns among internet users, including women and young girls. In fact, they added, for the average country, life satisfaction had increased more for females over the period.

Although the study reveals the impact of the internet on a large group of people, it doesn’t speak to the nuances of individuals, noted Karen Kovacs North, director of the Annenberg Program on Online Communities at the University of Southern California.

Like any tool, the impact the internet will have on any individual depends largely on how they use it, added Ashley Johnson, a senior policy manager at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Washington, D.C.

She doubts finding one universal answer to the question of how the internet affects people because it affects us in so many different ways. This creates an opportunity for nuanced research into how people’s actions and the actions of various companies and regulators can lead either to better or worse psychological outcomes.

Julie Ancis, a professor and founding director of cyberpsychology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, N.J., added that how people use technology, how much time people spend with it, what people view, an individual’s usage — active, passive, or addictive, and their mental health and strength of offline interactions are all important variables that can contribute to an individual’s well-being.

She expressed her admiration for the authors who conducted such a massive longitudinal study on this topic noting that future research should focus on exploring specific variables including, but not limited to, the type of internet use, personality characteristics of participants, and the level of offline support as well.

In their research, the authors, professors Przybylski and Vuorre, called on tech companies to be more cooperative with researchers and to provide more data if there is to be conclusive evidence of the impacts of internet use. Research on the effects of internet technologies is stalled because the data most urgently needed are collected and held behind closed doors by technology companies and online platforms.

It is crucial to study in more detail and with more transparency from all stakeholders, data on individual adoption of and engagement with internet-based technologies. These data are continuously analysed by global technology firms for marketing and product improvement but are not accessible for independent research.

Karen Kovacs North pointed out that a lot of the data that would be helpful would contain specific information about data collection and use of the data for algorithms that curate experiences. Tech companies make their money, so she doesn’t think they’re going to give up that data. North noted the results of the study could influence how policymakers look at Big Tech.