Mental Health Impacts of Social Media During COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media platforms emerged as pivotal channels for news, public health guidance and peer support, yet they also became vectors for sensational content and misinformation. This dual nature has driven a nuanced impact on mental health, with frequent exposure to pandemic-related posts linked to increased anxiety, fear and depressive symptoms in diverse populations. In contrast, carefully curated updates and virtual support networks have shown promise in fostering adaptive coping strategies, emotional resilience and community solidarity. Research to date underscores the importance of content quality, exposure duration and user demographics in shaping psychological outcomes. A balanced understanding of these dynamics is critical for informing public health communication, digital literacy initiatives and platform design to mitigate harm and promote wellbeing in current and future health crises.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have highlighted that exposure to COVID-19 news on social media correlates with elevated levels of anxiety, fear of infection and self-reported changes in health-related behaviours. A large cross-sectional survey in Iran found that individuals with moderate to high levels of social media news exposure were more than twice as likely to report significant anxiety and fear, while also demonstrating greater uptake of preventive measures such as mask-wearing and hand hygiene. These findings illustrate a paradox in which heightened emotional distress coexists with increased engagement in recommended health behaviours, suggesting that sensational content can drive short-term compliance even as it undermines psychological wellbeing.

Mental Health Impacts of Social Media During COVID-19 publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in mental health impacts of social media during covid-19 across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Anxiety: An emotional state characterised by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physiological changes such as increased heart rate.

Depression: A mood disorder involving persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, and functional impairment.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): A mental health condition marked by excessive, uncontrollable worry across multiple domains, lasting at least six months.

Infodemic: An overabundance of information—some accurate, some not—that arises during a health crisis and makes it difficult for people to find trustworthy guidance.

Social media exposure: The extent to which individuals encounter content on online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, including news, personal accounts and public health updates.

References

1. Exposure to the COVID-19 news on social media and consequent psychological distress and potential behavioral change. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak. PLOS ONE (2020).
3. COVID-19 Infodemic and Impacts on the Mental Health of Older People: Cross-sectional Multicenter Survey Study. JMIR Aging (2023).
4. The Impact of Social Media on Panic During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iraqi Kurdistan: Online Questionnaire Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2020).