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The Effect of Deactivating Facebook and Instagram on Users’ Emotional State
In two large randomized experiments during the 2020 U.S. election, we find that deactivating Facebook or Instagram for six weeks before the election marginally improved users’ emotional state.
Citation
Hunt Allcott, Matthew Gentzkow, Benjamin Wittenbrink, Juan Carlos Cisneros, Adriana Crespo-Tenorio, Drew Dimmery, Deen Freelon, Sandra González-Bailón, et al. “The Effect of Deactivating Facebook and Instagram on Users’ Emotional State.” National Bureau of Economic Research, 33697 (2025). https://doi.org/10.3386/w33697
Date Posted
Jul 12, 2025
Authors
- Hunt Allcott,
- Matthew Gentzkow,
- Benjamin Wittenbrink,
- Juan Carlos Cisneros,
- Adriana Crespo-Tenorio,
- Drew Dimmery,
- Deen Freelon,
- Sandra González-Bailón,
- Andrew M. Guess,
- Young Mie Kim,
- David Lazer,
- Neil Malhotra,
- Devra Moehler,
- Sameer Nair-Desai,
- Brendan Nyhan,
- Jennifer Pan,
- Jaime Settle,
- Emily Thorson,
- Rebekah Tromble,
- Carlos Velasco Rivera,
- Arjun Wilkins,
- Magdalena Wojcieszak,
- Annie Franco,
- Chad Kiewiet de Jonge,
- Winter Mason,
- Natalie Jomini Stroud,
- Joshua A. Tucker
Area of Study
Abstract
We estimate the effect of social media deactivation on users’ emotional state in two large randomized experiments before the 2020 U.S. election. People who deactivated Facebook for the six weeks before the election reported a 0.060 standard deviation improvement in an index of happiness, depression, and anxiety, relative to controls who deactivated for just the first of those six weeks. People who deactivated Instagram for those six weeks reported a 0.041 standard deviation improvement relative to controls. Exploratory analysis suggests the Facebook effect is driven by people over 35, while the Instagram effect is driven by women under 25.