Due to Social Media. But nobody stops…
AMSTERDAM – Over six million Dutch people see social media as “a threat to our mental well-being.” Among them, 2.2 million feel actively less happy using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. More than four million have thought about quitting, yet they don’t.
These insights come from the Dutch Social Media Study by research agency Newcom. Issues are most severe among Generation Z and millennials – those who spend the most time online, yet report the lowest happiness related to their use.
Lead researcher Tim Jonker calls this “a huge contradiction.”
“Young people suffer from intense FOMO – fear of missing out,” he explains. “They fear being left behind if they’re not constantly scrolling. One in three even say social media boosts their self-confidence. And half feel it enriches their real lives.”
Yet, social media simultaneously fuels anxiety about decision-making and measuring up to perfection.
“There’s simply too much to do and see,” says Jonker. “Was another party better? Did you wear the right outfit? Influencers project ideals that pressure users to conform. And more people feel weighed down by this shadow side.”
Jonker emphasizes the study doesn’t offer solutions:
“We merely observe trends. Policymakers must find the answers.”
The study involved a representative group of over 7,100 Dutch respondents aged 15 and older.
Source: ANP
We’ve known it for a long time.
The screen consumes everything –
our time,
our attention,
our sense of enough.
We put it down,
yet pick it up again.
Maybe out of habit.
Maybe out of pain.
Maybe out of longing
for something that isn’t there.
The emptiness expands
where likes no longer satisfy.
The silence calls,
but the noise stays on.
Until you decide
that looking isn’t the same as seeing.
And stopping isn’t the same as losing.
The moments no one saw,
but you did.
The choices you made,
without applause.
The softness you showed,
without anyone watching.
The realization
that it wasn’t worth less
because you did it alone.
The times you didn’t share,
but deeply felt.
Knowing that stopping
can be stronger than pushing forward.
That you don’t need to disappear
to reclaim your space.
And that your worth
was never measured
by a screen.
