Social media risk for older people

OLDER people often worry about the effect of social media on the next generation.

But middle-aged people are most at risk from the mental side-effects of too much Facebook and Twitter – and it could actually make their midlife crisis worse.

US researchers found that social media users were 22 per cent more likely to have felt on the point of a nervous breakdown. But the trend was only seen in people over the age of 30.

They suggested that those aged 18 to 29 are better able to cope because they have grown up with social media.

The study also suggests that after the age of 30 people are more likely to dwell on how their life is going and on whether they have achieved their goals. They do this by looking at the timelines and status updates of former schoolmates.

But study authors, led by Dr Bruce Hardy at Temple University in Philadelphia, warned in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour: ‘As most people present themselves hyper-positively online, social comparisons are unrealistic and may deteriorate self-worth and mental wellbeing.’