Scientists from Duke University and Yale University have found a causal relationship between evening social media use and poor sleep. The research was published in the journal Sleeping pill.
In total, the scientists analyzed 120 million posts on the site made by 44,000 users over 15 years. They found that if a user posted on the site about an hour before their normal bedtime, they were much more likely to go to bed later than usual. On average, bedtime was delayed by one to three hours.
Researchers suggest that the increase in dopamine levels due to waiting for responses from other users on the site may make it difficult to rest and fall asleep. Previous research has shown that increased dopamine levels promote mental alertness and alertness.
In addition, experiments by other groups of scientists have shown that exposure to blue light emitted by phones and tablet computers can cause sleep problems as it inhibits melatonin production.