The statement discussed a study conducted in a group of adults that were spending different amounts of time online. The results were that the adults that spent more time online had more trouble concentrating and a percentage of adults who spent more than 30 hours per week online often felt sad. The conclusion of the statement is that spending to much time online can be linked to depression, so people that want to improve their quality of life should limit their time on the internet. There is not sufficient information about the study to agree or disagree with the statement. Data like subject background should be taken into consideration. In addition to external factors that may have altered the subjects emotions during the study.
Depression can run in the family and it may be for several reasons. The most common reason for adults with depression, that does not run in the family, is income. Struggling to get by on the day to day can cause a lot of stress and feelings of sadness, combine this with a lot of time spent online and it may lead to depression. Go on any website and you will see advertising, it is inevitable, so constant exposure to material things or the vacation you always wanted but can't afford can be overwhelming. Also social media has become more than a way of communicating it is also a portal to show the world your success and the nice things you have. As humans, even if we don't want to, we can't help but to compare ourselves to our peers and seeing someone have a lot of material things you cannot have, depending on the person, can lead to feeling of sadness.
External factors such as the death of a loved one or losing a job could affect the test subjects emotions and therefore the results. There is no way to have the subjects in a control environment so nothing of this nature happens to them so the percentage of error has to be discussed in the results.
My conclusion is that it is very possible that over exposure to the internet and social media can have negative effects on adults. Not only for the points I have already discussed like comparing our achievements and possessions to others but also because of one of the things that makes us human is the need we have to interact physically with another person. Real social interaction is imperative for a healthy emotional status and it is not replaceable. Apart from the fact, that is not discussed in the statement, that the time we spend online is mostly sitting so to have a healthy lifestyle we need to be active.