Causal Manipulations of Social Media Use: Key Methodological Considerations

There is extensive debate about the effects of social media use on wellbeing. Central to this debate is that evidence is lacking due to an inability to confirm causal pathways through experimental research. The rise of social media intervention experiments to tackle this issue has represented a positive change for the field. However, these studies are themselves encumbered by methodological issues, preventing a clear take-home message from this line of research. In the current paper we attempt to tackle this issue by highlighting to researchers what some of these issues are, and how they may design and interpret their research to allay or avoid such issues going forward. Our hope is that this contribution will ultimately help improve the quality of experimental research tackling this timely issue.