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We estimate the effect of social media deactivation on users’ emotional state in
two large randomized experiments before the 2020 U.S. election. People who
deactivated Facebook for the six weeks before the election reported a 0.060
standard deviation improvement in an index of happiness, depression, and
anxiety, relative to controls who deactivated for just the first of those six weeks.
People who deactivated Instagram for those six weeks reported a 0.041 standard
deviation improvement relative to controls. Exploratory analysis suggests
the Facebook effect is driven by people over 35, while the Instagram
effect is driven by women under 25.
