The Global Social Media Experiment

Are you still looking for collaborators?

We are unfortunately not still looking for collaborators.

Can you tell me more about the experimental design?

The experimental design will follow prior social media deactivation experiments, such as Alcott et. al (2020), or Asimovic et. al (2022). For more details, view our Stage 1 Registered Report here

How will participants be recruited?

Participants will be recruited via survey companies (e.g. Bilendi).

What is the timeline of the experiment?

Our Stage 1 Registered Report for this project received an in-principle acceptance in late 2025, and we began data collection in January 2026. Data collection will be completed in September 2026. Results of the study will likely be shared in early 2026.

How will you check if people complied with the experiment?

We plan to measure compliance using screenshots of social media screen-time.

Do I need ethics approval before collecting data?

Ethics approval has been received through NYU.

What social media platforms are you focusing on?

We plan to have people reduce their smartphone social media screen-time on key social media platforms, such as Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. This may differ for countries that do not have these platforms.

Will data be available?

Data from this project will be anonymized and shared publicly for re-analysis. It will be available first for collaborators for secondary papers. We expect that a number of secondary papers will result from this project.

What if I have more questions?

You can contact the research team at globalsocialmediastudy@gmail.com. Please note that we will not be able to answer all questions immediately.