Hey night owls! Tweeting at night linked to worse mental well-being. (Bristol, U.K.)

[usonian]

Last edited Mon Oct 13, 2025, 11:14 AM - Edit history (1)

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-tweeting-night-linked-worse-mental.html

Posting on Twitter (also known as X) throughout the night is associated with worse mental well-being, according to a new study from the University of Bristol published in Scientific Reports.

Tweeting throughout the night explained almost 2% of variation in participants' mental well-being, which is comparable to activities like binge drinking and smoking marijuana (as measured in previous studies).

Researchers suggested that actively using Twitter during the night could both disrupt and delay sleep, which could reduce the quality and quantity of sleep, harming mental well-being. Nighttime tweeting showed a weaker relationship with depressive and anxiety symptoms (compared to mental well-being), although this became stronger after results were split by age and sex.

Seventy-four percent of U.K. adults keep their phone in their bedroom at night, while 26% say they would check their phone if they wake up in the night, according to a 2022 YouGov survey.

Free Access paper
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-14745-y (read online)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-14745-y.pdf (pdf)

Tweet Sweet Dreams.

Edit to add.
This study applies only to twitter/twitler.

I believe that most DU'ers do not stay up all night, and that most critically, DU is moderated. I only participate here and at Hacker News, which is also heavily moderated. Neither has ads, or is adless for a small amount or a free adblocker.

I was thinking this morning how I have seen or heard zero ads pro or con Prop 50 in CA. That's because I do zero TV, and use non-commercial radio. (Mostly over the internet. Audio streams use very little data. )

The "media" I use are intended for the benefit of their users/audience, and are not rage-driven. I would describe the large social media sites as antisocial media.

[sprinkleeninow]

1. I awakened just in time for my 2 a.m. snak.

😆

[usonian]

2. Remember.

🚫 Tweets
🚫 Sweets.

Only 11 here.

I sent a forecast to a traveler.
Some snow in Yosemite Valley Monday PM
Tuesday 10-12 inches of snow (weather app).

Valley is 4000 ft. Elevation but Tioga Pass is 9947 ft. Elevation, so they are closing the pass and Glacier Point road (the latter is temporary)

[sprinkleeninow]

4. Uh...

Tweets--> 👎
Sweets-->👍🤏🤭

I never tweeted. Never will. No desire ever to join in at any social media joint. That's just me.
I don't want any snow either ever.
Aight, 1/4" only one snow event this winter I can tolerate.
Stay safe n warm!

[Celerity]

7. DU is social media.

You said:

No desire ever to join in at any social media joint. That's just me.

You joined one on March 1st, 2017.

[sprinkleeninow]

8. Here we go. I don't consider DU *social media*.

I first signed on in 2002 actually.

I don't remember back then if there were Farcebook et al.

I also joined AOL message boards around '95, i.e. an Internet Forum.

I don't consider DU to be one of them *social media* things of which the name alone bugs me.

[Celerity]

9. DU absolutely is social media, regardless of your stance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

snip

Social media platforms can be categorized based on their primary function.

Social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn focus on building personal and professional connections.

Microblogging platforms, such as Twitter (now X), Threads and Mastodon, emphasize short-form content and rapid information sharing.

Media sharing networks, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat, allow users to share images, videos, and live streams.

Discussion and community forums like Reddit, Quora, and Discord facilitate conversations, Q&A, and niche community engagement.

Live streaming platforms, such as Twitch, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live, enable real-time audience interaction.

Decentralized social media platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky aim to provide social networking without corporate control, offering users more autonomy over their data and interactions.

[sprinkleeninow]

10. Why is there air?

The popular words facilitate/facilitator, collaborate/collaborator and derivatives thereof irk me no end.

Bucatini! 🫶

[czarjak]

3. Does DU count?

[highplainsdem]

6. Some people consider message boards social media, while others don't. The ones who wouldn't

consider DU social media would say social media platforms are organized by users following certain people, while older forms of online discussion are organized by content, by particular interests.

By those standards, Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook etc. are social media, but Reddit isn't and neither are message boards. But most people DO consider Reddit social media.

Wikipedia refers to "social platforms" and does include online forums among social platforms:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_platforms_with_at_least_100_million_active_users

But it differentiates "social networks" (Facebook, Twitter) from online forums.

[highplainsdem]

5. Elon Musk often tweets through the night. And I'm guessing Trump's Truth Social rants would count.