Open TikTok for five minutes…
And sooner or later, you’ll hear someone say:
« Social media is destroying an entire generation. »
« Your brain is fried. »
« Phones are the reason young people are unhappy. »
It’s become one of the most repeated ideas on the internet.
The problem?
The science doesn’t tell such a simple story.
A few years ago, two researchers—Amy Orben and Andrew Przybylski—asked a question almost nobody else had asked properly.
Instead of looking at a few hundred teenagers…
They analyzed data from more than 350,000 adolescents.
Not a viral thread.
Not a personal opinion.
One of the largest analyses ever conducted on the subject.
And what they found surprised almost everyone.
Digital technology—including social media—explained less than 0.4% of the differences in young people’s well-being.
Less than half of one percent.
To understand how small that is…
The researchers compared it to something completely ordinary.
Wearing glasses.
Yes.
Statistically speaking, the relationship between wearing glasses and well-being was about as strong as the relationship between digital technology and well-being.
Suddenly…
The idea that Instagram alone is destroying an entire generation becomes much harder to defend.
But before you celebrate and spend ten hours scrolling…
Here’s the part that often gets ignored.
The study doesn’t say social media has no effect.
It says the effect is far smaller than many headlines make you believe.
Because human happiness has never depended on one thing.
Family.
Friendships.
Money.
Sleep.
School.
Physical health.
Stress.
Loneliness.
Purpose.
All of these matter.
Reducing mental health to a single app on your phone is simply too simplistic.
Now let’s bring this closer to home.
According to the World Happiness Report 2026, Morocco has so far avoided part of the explosion in hyperconnectivity seen in several other countries across the MENA region.
That doesn’t mean Moroccan teenagers are immune.
It means the pattern isn’t identical.
But researchers still point to the same warning.
The issue isn’t necessarily having social media.
It’s how you use it.
Think about two different people.
The first spends an hour talking with friends, learning new skills and sharing creative projects.
The second spends five hours comparing their life to strangers, endlessly scrolling and sleeping four hours a night.
Both used social media.
But they didn’t have the same experience.
That’s why scientists increasingly focus on something much more interesting than screen time.
The quality of the time.
Are you creating…
Or only consuming?
Are you connecting…
Or comparing?
Do you close the app feeling inspired…
Or exhausted?
Because maybe the real danger isn’t social media itself.
Maybe it’s when the algorithm quietly replaces real conversations…
Real hobbies…
Real sleep…
And real life.
Technology isn’t automatically good.
It isn’t automatically bad.
It’s a tool.
And like every tool…
Its impact depends on how, when and why you use it.
Which means the biggest myth of all might be this idea that your phone is controlling your future.
Because science suggests something much more complicated.
Your habits matter far more than your apps.
The real question is…
If social media explains less than 0.4% of our well-being… why do we keep blaming our phones for problems that are often much bigger than the screen itself?
