Posting On Social Media Before Going To Sleep Can Interfere With Sleep Onset

Research shows that regular good sleep promotes good mental health by maintaining one’s ability to regulate emotions and behaviors.[1][2] Research also shows that there is a strong link between sleep deprivation and the development and worsening of mental health disorders, such as anxiety disorder and depression.[1][2] Therefore getting regular good sleep is important for good mental health.

Unfortunately, research has also found a link between social media use and declining mental health.[3][4] Researchers cite many reasons for this decline, including posting on social media late in the day, causing sleep disruption.

A team of Duke University and Yale University psychiatrists has found what appears to be a causal link between nighttime social media use and delayed sleep.[5] As reported in the journal Sleep Medicine, the researchers tracked social media use and delayed sleep patterns of 44,000 Reddit users.

Previous research has shown that melatonin production can be disrupted by exposure to blue light emitted by mobile phones and tablet computers, disrupting sleep. In this new experiment, the researchers found that posting on social media before their usual bedtime can cause a delay in when people go to sleep.

The researchers initially suspected that posting on social media before going to sleep could disrupt normal sleep patterns. To confirm their suspicions, they analyzed data from the social media site Reddit. Like other social media sites, Reddit allows users to post comments, links to content, and comment on other people’s posts 24/7.

In total, the research team analyzed 120 million posts from 44,000 Reddit users over 15 years. They were able to identify the typical bedtime of users and measure the impact of social media posts before their typical bedtime.

The researchers found that users who posted on the site about an hour before their usual bedtime were much more likely to stay awake past their usual bedtime. On average, people who posted just before their normal bedtime fell asleep 1-3 hours later. And posting multiple times before going to sleep kept them awake longer.

Researchers suspect that dopamine levels spike in anticipation of responses from other users, making it more difficult for posters to relax and fall asleep. Previous studies have shown that elevated dopamine levels contribute to mental activity and wakefulness, which can interfere with sleep onset.

References

1. Kingsland, James. “The close relationship between sleep and mental health.” MedicalNewsToday, 4 August 2020.

2. “How Sleep Deprivation Impacts Mental Health.” Columbia University Department Of Psychiatry, 16 March 2022.

3. Braghieri, Luca, et al. “Social Media and Mental Health.” SSRN, 14 September 2021.

4. Mir, Elina, et al. “Social Media and Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Mental Health.” National Center For Health Research, retrieved 19 June 2023.

5. Meyerson, William, et al. “The association between evening social media use and delayed sleep may be causal: Suggestive evidence from 120 million Reddit timestamps.” Sleep Medicine, July 2023.