In brief: We're often warned that spending time online can be bad for us, given the exposure to toxicity and some of the worst elements of society. However, researchers have found that internet access and use can contribute to greater well-being.
In a study, the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) looked into the effects of internet use on people from 168 countries across 15 years.
"Our analysis is the first to test whether or not internet access, mobile internet access and regular use of the internet relates to well-being on a global level," said Prof Andrew Przybylski, of the University of Oxford, who co-authored the work.
There have been previous studies that found a link between social media use and depressive symptoms in younger women. The OII says some of its findings are "consistent" with these links, but the study showed overall benefits of internet use.
The study involved asking around 1,000 people each year from 168 countries about their internet use and different aspects of their well-being, including life satisfaction, social life, purpose in life, and feelings of community well-being. Data was analyzed from 2006 to 2021, equaling about 2.4 million participants aged 15 to 99.
The researchers examined a "multiverse" of nearly 34,000 different statistical models and subsets of data. According to the results, 84.99% of cases showed statistically significant associations between internet use and well-being that were positive, 0.4% were negative, and 14.7% not statistically significant.
One of the measures, life satisfaction, was found to be 8.5% higher for those who had internet access. However, 5% of associations linking internet use and community well-being were negative, mostly among young women aged 15 to 24. The paper says this is consistent with previous reports of increased cyberbullying and more negative associations between social media use and depressive symptoms among young women.
Many previous similar studies have focused on certain locations, such as the US or Europe; on specific areas of the internet, especially social media; and on particular demographics, such as young people.
While the study did look at factors that could influence the associations, such as income, education, health problems and relationship status, it did not look at the length of time people spent using the internet or what they used it for.
Przybylski said the results had implications for policymakers seeking to introduce more restrictions designed to protect young people online.
"If we're to make the online world safer for young people, we just can't go in guns blazing with strong prior beliefs and kind of one-size-fits-all solutions. We really need to make sure that we're sensitive to having our minds changed by data," he said, via The Guardian.