Are active and passive social media use related to mental health, wellbeing, and social support outcomes? A meta-analysis of 141 studies

The relationships between active (e.g., creating content) and passive (e.g., scrolling) social media (SM) use (SMU) and mental health, wellbeing, and social support outcomes have received significant attention, yet findings have been mixed. We conducted a meta-analysis of 141 studies (N approximate to 145,000) containing 897 effect sizes (ESs) between active and passive SMU and 13 outcomes. Most ESs were negligible (|r| < .10), with the exception of between-person associations for active SMU and greater online support (r = .34), wellbeing (r = .15), positive affect (r = .11), and symptoms of anxiety (r = .12), and passive SMU and greater online support (r = .15). Moderator analyses revealed that passive use was associated with worse emotional outcomes in general SM contexts, but not in the context of SM groups. User age also emerged as an important contextual factor. Implications for future research, theory development, and healthy SMU are discussed.