Flow experiences on TikTok and Instagram linked to mental health issues

Greater experiences of “telepresence” — which refer to a user’s sense of immersion in the world created by social media apps — among both TikTok and Instagram users are linked to higher levels of depression and anxiety, according to new research published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. The study examined “flow” experiences resulting from social media use. Flow was first introduced by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s to describe a mental state that occurs when someone is fully immersed in an activity. In the context of social media, flow experiences may oc...