Get Off Social
Run by GOGHINI, who make Focus Frames

You've scrolled enough today.

Feeds are built to take your attention and keep it. This page sets out what the research says about logging off, including the studies that found no effect.

We make tools for reclaimed attention →
A phone face-down on a table beside a mug and an open notebook in morning light A face lit only by phone glow in a dark room
The evidence

What the research shows

Cutting back reduces depressive symptoms

A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials found that reducing social media use significantly decreases symptoms of depression.

May, Malouff & Meynadier (2025), European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education.

Read the meta-analysis →

Restriction improves wellbeing by a small amount

Pooled results from randomised trials show a modest improvement in subjective wellbeing when social media use is restricted.

Burnell, Meter, Andrade, Slocum & George (2025), SSM: Mental Health.

Read the evidence review →

A week off changes how you feel

A randomised controlled trial put participants through a 7-day social media restriction and measured cognitive function and emotional wellbeing against controls.

van Wezel, Abrahamse & Vanden Abeele (2021), Addictive Behaviors Reports.

Read the trial →

Your phone taxes you even face-down

The 2017 "brain drain" study found that having your own phone in view reduced available cognitive capacity. A 2022 replication did not find the same effect. Treat the original as unconfirmed.

Ward, Duke, Gneezy & Bos (2017), Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. Replication: Ruiz Pardo & Minda (2022), Acta Psychologica.

The study →   The replication →

Some trials find little effect on grades or attention. The most consistent finding is on mood.

Why this site exists

The scroll pulls from the edges.

Notifications, moving thumbnails and the glow of a screen at the edge of your vision all reach you before you have decided to look. We make Focus Frames, matte black frames with side shields that block that edge-of-vision movement. Designed by a founder with ADHD for his own use.

See Focus Frames at goghini.com →