IT’S official – Swift Half is actually good for you. Well, the internet is anyway, and we’d like to think we’re the main reason you use it.
Despite fears social media stalking and celebrity obsession are ruining the lives of anyone with a smartphone, new research suggests those who use the internet have better mental and physical wellbeing than those who don’t.
With nearly a quarter of five to seven year olds now owning a smartphone this could be good news for parents.
The study looked at two million people aged 15 to 99 over 16 years in 168 countries and measured factors including life satisfaction, daily experiences, social and physical wellbeing against internet usage.
It found the only group to suffer negative consequences were females aged 15-24, who experienced worse ‘community wellbeing’, although this could be due to pre-existing conditions.
Researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, who did not limit their study to social media use, admitted they were surprised by their own discoveries.
They included how bans on kids playing video games in South Korea and China had failed to boost wellbeing.
Oxford University’s Andrew Przybylski said: “We hope our findings bring some greater context to the screen time debate.
“We know from 25 years of research that often the strategies that are least effective, especially with young people, are restrictions, across a wide range of media and technologies.
“It leads to concealment, lying and rebellion. It doesn’t lead to the internalisation of effective digital literacy or digital citizenship.”
The research comes after recent Government advice on banning smartphones in UK schools.
Some experts welcomed the study as a challenge to the “generalisation and fears” coming out of America.
But social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt said caution is still required.
He was reported in The Times as saying: “Gaining initial access to the internet brings so many benefits. Does that mean that it’s OK for 12-year-old girls to spend five hours a day on Instagram?”
