Net Positive

How social media gets us down—and how community

powered entertainment will pick us back up

We talked to 2,100 13-35 year old social media users about the
internet and the way it makes them feel. Here’s what we uncovered.

It’s true: social media is a

breeding ground for negativity.

70%
of social media users
61%
think spending too much
57%
say the negative side of
wish social media was time on social media is bad social media isn’t talked
a more positive place for their mental health about enough

In fact… the more social media platforms

we use, the less happy we are.

10

9
HAPPINESS (1-10 SCALE)

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

NUMBER OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS USED

Different platforms have different effects on us.

How do they feel after using them?

26% 23% 20%

of Snapchat users of Instagram users of Snapchat users
have worse FOMO feel more depressed compare themselves
to others

19% 18% 18%

of Instagram users of Twitter users of Facebook users
feel like they’re not feel more anxious feel lonelier
as good as others

But certain platforms make their users

feel better after using them.
Percentage of users who feel better after using the platform

SNAPCHAT/
SPOTIFY IMGUR INSTAGRAM TUMBLR

80% 62% 44% 33%

69% 53% 37% 29%

NETFLIX PINTEREST/ REDDIT FACEBOOK
YOUTUBE

Platforms that focus on entertainment, discovery,

and helping us unwind offer the perfect antidote
to social media toxicity.
I use this platform to …

Entertain myself Discover new things Feel more relaxed

Imgur 87% Imgur 68% Netflix 70%

Netflix 82% Reddit 67% Imgur 52%

YouTube 67% YouTube 44% YouTube 43%

Reddit 63% Instagram 42% Reddit 32%

Instagram 53% Twitter 36% Instagram 29%

Snapchat 48% Netflix 23% Twitter 22%

Twitter 45% Facebook 32% Facebook 22%

Facebook 34% Snapchat 19% Snapchat 15%

People want platforms to be

more real and content-driven.

82% 78% 76%

want to choose what want to see mostly real, want to see content
they see on social media, user-created content on recommended by other
rather than have an social media users, rather than by
algorithm dictate it the platform

And anonymous sharing is an increasingly

attractive alternative to traditional social media.
More than half want to anonymously share their opinions on social media.

say it helps them feel free

56% to post what they want

say it helps them feel

55%
1 in 3
free to be themselves

use anonymous say they’re not as

platforms 48% worried about what other

people think of them

Anonymity makes them feel more authentic.

Top platforms for representing the …

“Real Me” “Ideal Me”

IMGUR REDDIT SNAPCHAT INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK YOUTUBE

When users feel happy, they are much more

receptive to everything — including advertising.

83% 52%

A good mood makes 52% agree that seeing

social media users 83% an ad online makes a
more likely to enjoy an ad bad mood even worse

Research conducted by Ypulse in a survey of n=1,000 nationally representative social media users
ages 13-35, and n=1,138 Imgur users. The survey was fielded February 26, 2018 to March 5, 2018.