Nearly 45% of adults who are active on social media say they regret
how much they used it when they were younger, according to a Kaspersky
survey of 1,240 working professionals across six Asia-Pacific countries
(Australia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam). On the
other side, Security.org’s survey of 1,012 US adults found that roughly
13% of those who deleted Facebook reported no improvement in
happiness afterward — the rest described themselves as happier. The implied ratio favors
deletion, but the comparison is imprecise: one survey measures
retrospective volume regret among current users, the other measures
post-deletion mood among a self-selected group of quitters.
The strongest experimental evidence comes from Hunt, Marx, Lipson, and
Young (2018) at the University of Pennsylvania. In a randomized
controlled trial, 143 undergraduates were assigned to either limit
Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat to 10 minutes per platform per day or
use social media as usual for three weeks. The limited-use group showed
significant reductions in loneliness and depression compared to
controls, with Beck Depression Inventory scores dropping from a mean of
23 to 14.5. This is one of the few studies establishing a causal
(not merely correlational) link between social media reduction and
improved well-being.
The main weakness in framing this as a clean action-vs-inaction pair is
that “deleting social media” is rarely a permanent, total act. Many
deleters migrate to other platforms, reactivate after a few months, or
simply reduce usage without full deletion. The Security.org survey
focused exclusively on Facebook, not all social media. The Kaspersky
figure applies to Asia-Pacific professionals, not a globally
representative sample. What the data does suggest, directionally, is that
sustained heavy use generates more stated regret than leaving does —
a finding corroborated by Hunt et al.’s experimental evidence that
reduction causes genuine well-being improvement.
Sources: action
Claim ledger
Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.
[1]Cyber Magazine / Kaspersky — 45% of people regret using social media in younger years
Reference source
45% of respondents regret using social media as much as they did when they were younger
Excerpt
“"45 percent of people regret using social media as much as they did when they were younger. Old social posts can present challenges with job applications and progression."
”
Source data from
2020-09-15
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
Kaspersky Digital Reputation Economy survey conducted by YouGov in November 2020 across six Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam), n = 1,240 working professionals who use social media at least 1 hour/day. The 45% figure captures retrospective regret about volume of past social media use, not current-session regret. Population is Asia-Pacific, not global — earlier descriptions of this as a "global" survey were inaccurate.
[2]Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology — No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression
Peer-reviewed
Limiting social media to 30 minutes/day significantly reduced loneliness and depression over 3 weeks compared to unrestricted use
Excerpt
“"The limited use group showed significant reductions in loneliness and depression over three weeks compared to the control group. Participants who reduced usage dropped from a mean of 23 to 14.5 on the Beck Depression Inventory."
”
Source data from
2018-11-01
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
Hunt, Marx, Lipson & Young (2018), University of Pennsylvania. 143 undergraduates randomized to limit Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat to 10 min each/day vs use-as-usual for 3 weeks. Limited-use group showed significant reductions in loneliness and depression. Provides experimental evidence that reduced use improves well-being, supporting the action-side regret finding. Does not provide a binary regret rate itself.
Sources: inaction
Claim ledger
Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.
[1]Security.org — Detailing the Delete Facebook Phenomenon
Reference source
46% of those who deleted Facebook were significantly happier; 41% slightly happier — leaving ~13% neutral or less happy
Excerpt
“"Nearly half of them (46 percent) said they were significantly happier after getting rid of Facebook, while 41 percent said it made them slightly happier."
”
Source data from
2021-01-15
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
Security.org surveyed 1,012 US adults who had ever held a Facebook account. Among those who deleted or deactivated, 87% reported being happier (46% significantly + 41% slightly). We invert this to derive the inaction-regret proxy: ~13% were not happier, which we treat as an upper bound on deletion regret. The survey does not directly ask "do you regret deleting?" so the 13% is an imputed ceiling rather than a measured regret rate. Note: article was updated/republished in 2025 but original data collection was 2021.
[2]University of Michigan / Michigan Medicine — Many young people recognize negative impact of social media and have considered deleting accounts
Primary study
More than half of 14-24-year-olds have deleted or thought about deleting social media accounts due to bullying, misinformation, safety risks, and distressing content
Excerpt
“"More than half of respondents ages 14-24 said they've deleted or thought about deleting accounts. Reasons include bullying, misinformation, safety risks, fakeness and distressing content."
”
Source data from
2022-11-01
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, November 2022. Over 50% of young people have deleted or considered deleting accounts. Corroborates that deletion intent is common and driven by negative experiences, not impulsive decisions likely to generate regret.
Caveats
The action and inaction figures come from different surveys with different populations and different operationalizations of "regret." The Kaspersky 45% measures retrospective regret about past usage volume among Asia-Pacific working professionals (not "global" as previously described — the survey was conducted by YouGov in six Asia-Pacific countries in November 2020). The Security.org 13% is an imputed ceiling derived from inverting a happiness measure among US Facebook deleters — not a direct regret question. These are different constructs (stated regret about volume vs happiness change after deletion) measured on different populations (Asia-Pacific professionals vs US Facebook users). Hunt et al. (2018, U Penn, n=143) provides the strongest experimental evidence: randomly limiting social media to 30 min/day significantly reduced depression and loneliness, suggesting that heavy use genuinely causes harm rather than merely correlating with it. Facebook deletion is not equivalent to deleting all social media; people who leave one platform often migrate to another. The 3.5:1 ratio should be read as directionally suggestive — those who stay are more likely to express regret than those who leave — but the precise magnitude is weakly grounded.
