A new Australian study is adding more weight to the argument against social media. And it’s even revealing how just how much social media is too much for teenagers. Research led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute found that adolescents who spent at least two hours a day on social media were more likely to experience depressive symptoms and poorer wellbeing one year later than those who used social platforms for less than one hour a day.

The study does not prove that social media directly caused those mental health problems. But the link is notable because the research followed young people over time instead of just relying on data from a short-term study.

Early adolescence looks like the danger zone

The study followed almost 1,200 children in Melbourne from age nine to 19 as part of the Child to Adult Transition Study. Researchers collected annual data on social media use and mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and self-harm. The strongest association was noted in girls aged 12 to 13, which researchers describe as a critical window for intervention. Dr Nandi Vijayakumar of MCRI and Deakin University said early adolescence stood out as a period when heavier social media use was linked to a greater risk of mental health problems one year later.

Ages 12 and 13 are often when phones, social apps, peer pressure, and other factors start crashing into each other at once. So even a modest rise in risk can matter when millions of young people are exposed to the same platforms every day.

Why simply deleting every app doesn’t help

In the study, researchers were also careful not to flatten the issue entirely. Social media can help some teenagers with belonging, finding self-expression, and building support systems through friendships, which is also crucial for young people who may not easily find those communities offline. At the same time, high usage can also mean more exposure to cyberbullying, harmful content, and social comparisons that can lead to sleep disruption and pressure to stay available.

Professor Susan Sawyer from MCRI said the results do not show social media is universally harmful, but they do support age-appropriate limits, better digital literacy, and clearer parental guidance. Professor Susan Sawyer from MCRI stated that the results do not show that social media is universally harmful. But the group does support age-appropriate limits, along with better digital literacy and clearer parental guidance.

The findings also arrive as governments continue to debate age restrictions and platform rules for young users. Australia has already introduced world-first social media age restrictions, and MCRI and Deakin University are separately studying how those changes affect teens’ phone use and mental health.

Most apps are designed to keep you on them as long as possible, especially content consumption apps where you scroll a never-ending feed of content. 

Dreambeans, a new experimental app from Google Labs, does the opposite. It gives you a small collection of AI-illustrated stories each morning and sends you off to live your actual life.

What kind of stories does Dreambeans actually generate?

While you sleep, the app collects the required data from your Google apps and services, including Gmail, Calendar, Google Photos, YouTube, along with your search history, and curates them into a set of 10 to 14 personalized stories.

The stories are lifestyle suggestions based on your interests and activities. They could contain a coffee shop suggestion near where you live (based on the places you’ve searched), insights about an upcoming vacation marked in your calendar, or ideas related to a hobby YouTube keeps surfacing.

Some stories include an action, such as a link to buy a ticket or book a show.

Every story is illustrated with AI-generated artwork personalized using Google Photos and Nano Banana 2. If a Dreambeans story involves you or people you know, the app uses your Photos face grouping and includes them in the scene. 

Who can use it and what is the catch?

For now, Dreambeans is only available to Google AI Ultra subscribers aged 18 and older in the United States, on both Android and iOS devices. To me, it looks like Google is keeping the audience deliberately small, as the AI Ultra is its most expensive subscription tier. It costs $100 per month. 

And yes, privacy-conscious users can choose which services connect to the app and delete their data at any point through the in-app settings. Dreambeans choices do not affect preferences in Gemini or AI Mode either. 

The app also includes a feedback system. Since it is in the experimental phase, the app might show some irrelevant stories or inaccurate visuals. Whether users trained on years of infinite scroll will actually want a daily content limit is the real experiment here, I’d say.