Social Media Use and Cognitive Load: A Study on the Impact on Interpersonal Relationships

Abstract

With the rise of mobile internet and the proliferation of social media in recent years, the problems brought about by technological advancements have emerged. People typically need to process a large amount of information and engage in social interactions, leading to this review’s aim of comprehensively analyzing the factors influencing social media, interpersonal relationships, and mental health. Recent mainstream views suggest that there is a correlation between social media’s impact on interpersonal relationships and mental health, with cognitive load acting as a mediating variable. Users with high cognitive load tend to have poorer quality in mental health and interpersonal relationships. However, a notable gap in the literature is the scarcity of studies adequately controlling for factors that might affect the outcomes, as well as the use of appropriate statistical methods in data analysis. These findings have important implications for understanding the impact of social media on individual interpersonal relationships and mental health.