Do not demonize social media without reason

A US STUDY PUBLISHED IN MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY recently says youngsters who browse social media networks for more than three hours a day could be more susceptible to depression and anxiety. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

Domestic media outlets have reported the study's results with big, bold headlines such as "Social networks cause depression" or "Browsing social media makes you depressed". These headlines are meant to catch readers' eyes. Yet they are misleading.

In the initial report, the researchers have been quoted as saying no evidence was found to suggest browsing social media for long hours causes mental disorders. They only said there could be a link between the two. But the majority of domestic media outlets ignored this important fact.