Is Snapchat Good for Your Mental Health?

People have been trying to figure out whether social media is a good thing since the dawn of social media. Countless studies have shown that while social media enables things like remote community-building, connecting people with similar niche interests and identities, it can also negatively impact users’ mental health—and, in the case of minors in particular, put them at risk for exploitation and predation.

Snapchat is currently facing a lawsuit from the New Mexico Attorney General accusing it of being “a primary platform used by criminals to sextort” children. In the midst of that, it has decided to highlight two studies that show Snapchat is the only social media platform that has a positive effect on the well-being of its users.

Snapchat might disagree with our wording, as the study’s post claims that it is “an alternative to social media, where our community can connect with friends and family.” The platform certainly started out that way, with the primary function being to allow users to send each other ephemeral messages that self-destructed after being opened. But let’s face it, while people Doing They use it to message their friends, but it has also become a social media site, complete with “star” creators who share hundreds of posts a day and attempt to compete with TikTok.

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And according to these two studies, one of the University of Amsterdam and one of Australia’s three mental health organisations, there’s one area where Snap doesn’t have to compete with TikTok: protecting users’ mental health.

“We found a consistent negative impact of time spent on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube across all three dimensions of mental health,” the University of Amsterdam said in its report. “In contrast, spending time on Snapchat had a positive effect on friendship ties and well-being, but had no significant impact on self-esteem.”

The university even went so far as to say that Snapchat’s findings indicate that “we should avoid a blanket condemnation of all social media platforms.”

The three Australian mental health organisations were more cautious in their conclusion, saying that overall they “found no evidence that using social media to facilitate social connections was associated with poorer mental health. Instead, they found that using social media more often to communicate with people teenagers know in real life was associated with fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.”

That association “may explain why higher hours of Snapchat use were not associated with any of the mental health symptoms examined, as Snapchat is a messaging app that adolescents primarily use to communicate with their friends,” the organizations said.

It’s notable that Snapchat has received, if not approval, then at least no condemnation from Australian mental health groups, given that Australia is currently in the process of banning children from all social media apps. It has already made plans to introduce a minimum age limit for social media later this year, with the age limit reportedly set at between 14 and 16. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the ban comes from the fact that the country wants children to have “real experiences with real people because we know social media causes social harm.”

The University of Amsterdam added that its research (conducted with 479 participants) “underscores the complex and multifaceted impact of social media on adolescent mental health” and “highlights the urgent need for more nuanced research and targeted interventions that take into account specific platforms and the individual experiences of adolescents.”

Snapchat says it is also working with the University of Chicago‘S National Centre for Opinion Research And YouGov to conduct its own research into the effects Snapchat has on users, but in the meantime, “we’re pleased that these independent studies confirm that Snapchat is a platform that supports friendship and contributes to greater happiness.”

The New Mexico Attorney General’s lawsuit alleges that Snapchat “hosts a massive network of dark web sites dedicated to sharing stolen, non-consensual sexual images,” and seeks to ban the app in the state. Snap released a statement in response to the lawsuit, saying it “shares the Attorney General’s concerns about the online safety of young people and is deeply committed to ensuring that Snapchat is a safe and positive place for our entire community, especially our younger users.”