Our world today is undeniably digital. Social media has become the go-to guide for over 61.4 percent of the global population. Despite the widespread use of social media among people of all ages, limited studies have explored the impact of social media on the overall quality of life (QoL) of populations [7, 9, 27, 28]. Specifically, this study sought to fill this gap by assessing the perceived social media needs and QoL among the adult population across ten countries.

For country statistics, our study findings showed that the percentage of social media users was highest in regions of Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Philippines), Southern Europe (Austria), West Asia (Georgia) and West Africa (Nigeria), whereas the lowest number of social media users was reported in the Middle East (Iran, Iraq). These results were aligned with the Global Social Media Research Summary 2021/2022, which ranked Southeast Asia - sixth, Southern Europe - seventh, and West Asia – ninth for the highest social network penetration rate [31].

In terms of sociodemographic, among 6689 participants recruited in this study, over one-third were young adults ranged from 18–24 years. According to previous studies conducted in United States in 2015, the mean age of respondents was 28.8 years old, suggesting the usage of social media among working age group [32]. As compared to our study conducted in 2021, is seen increasing trend for young adults’ social media users. Similarly, the in Global Social Media Research Summary 2021/2022 found that Generation Z aged 10–25 showed an increasing trend in social media use [31]. Generation X and Millennials aged 26–57 showed a decreasing trend in social media usage due to increasing real-life responsibilities and an increasing trend for the Boomer generation as social media allows connection and communication with the younger generation [31]. A systematic review conducted on social media sites and older users also shows the ability for intergenerational communication is the main driving factor for the elderly to use social media sites [33]. This study also found that social media usage was slightly higher in males than females. Consistent with the Global Social Media Research Summary 2021/2022, male users predominate social media usage across all age ranges except those aged 45 years and above [31].

Interestingly, our study findings suggested that the most used social media platforms were Facebook and its associate media sites, WhatsApp, and Instagram, which are under the parent company - Meta. These findings were consistent with the Global Social Media Research Summary 2021/2022, indicating that Facebook was the most visited social media platform, predominantly visited by those aged 58 years and above [31]. Google was ranked the first most visited website worldwide, and its subsidiary company YouTube remains the top video-sharing site. YouTube and Instagram are mostly visited by those ages 18–24 at 89% and 74%, respectively. Contrary to the Global Social Media Research Summary 2021/2022, Twitter was the second most used social media platform compared to our study that showed Twitter had the least usage [31].

Country-wise QOL assessment, this study found that the mean scores for perceived QOL were lower in all domains compared to Portugal [34]; lower in psychological health and social relationship domains compared to Brazil [35] and higher for physical and environmental health domains than Brazil and Malawi [35, 36]. Despite our study deduced that Nigerians perceived higher QOL than Malaysian and Turkish people in all domains, Skevington et al. found contradictory findings [37]. Except the social health domain was in line with our study, the mean score for the physical health domain was higher in Malaysia than in Nigeria and Turkey. Similarly, the mean score for the psychological health domain in Malaysia and Nigeria were equally higher than in Turkey. Furthermore, they also revealed that environmental health domain scores were higher in Malaysia than in Turkey and Nigeria [37]. However, it is noteworthy that these comparisons are interpreted with due caution as a previous study showed that physical and psychological domains of WHOQOL-BREF were less invariant than social relationship and environmental domains. Only 11 out of 24 facet items, excluding four facets that were fixed as reference items for which their invariance could not be assessed, were found to have invariant factor loadings and thresholds in the study mentioned above [38]. Alarming as it may sound, meaningful comparisons still can be made, provided that the proportion of non-invariant items is rather small [38].

Multiple regression analysis of sociodemographic backgrounds and four domains of WHOQOL index value showed that higher education level was positively correlated with all four domains of WHOQOL-BREF. Likewise, previous studies also reported that education level was significantly associated with physical, psychological, social relationship and environment health domain [34, 35, 39]. In our study, living with family and others led to better physical health scores than living alone. These findings were consistent with a previous study conducted by Patrício et al. in 2014, suggesting that living with parents, partners, or children could result in better physical health [34]. Contrary, existing literature proved unequivocally that living alone was linked deleteriously to a rise in blood pressure, poorer sleep quality, detrimental effects on immune stress response and deterioration in cognition levels over time in the elderly, which can ultimately jeopardize overall physical health [40].

In line with previous studies, gender was also determined as one of the predictors for the psychological health domain in our study, in which males were found to have better QoL than females [31, 35, 41]. However, controversial results were also found in some studies, ascertained that gender was not correlated with psychological health [39, 42]. Our findings could be attributed to women’s multiple social burdens of being wives, mothers or carers, single parents or widows and the effects of their vulnerability to domestic and sexual violence [43]. Another study on older women living in low, densely populated areas in the central southern region of Portugal also shows that they are susceptible to ageing and exhibit a greater dependency on their loved ones, making them vulnerable to psychological and physical health [44].

Our study also revealed that employment status is related to psychological health, in which employed individuals had better psychological health than those who were unemployed. Similar findings were found in two studies which suggested that employment influences the QoL of the general population [31, 34]. However, existing literature also argues that retired individuals have better psychological health than employed individuals, mainly due to workplace violence experience, poor psychosocial job quality and low job control [45, 46]. Meanwhile, a possible explanation for our finding is that unemployment leads to the deprivation of several latent functions of employment, such as financial strain, social contacts, time structure and personal status or identity in institutions, which are also fundamental psychological needs that are important for mental health [47]. Moreover, prolonged uncertainty, self-doubt and anxiety among those unemployed also lead to a further decrement in psychological health.

In addition, our study also found that living with illness and in care centres were negatively correlated with psychological health. This finding is in accordance with a previous study conducted by Ghasemi et al. [48], suggested that older adults who prefer to live with their families could have better QoL. However, in contrast, Chung found that community-dwelling elderly had 3.14 higher odds of depression compared to nursing home elderly [49]. Nevertheless, poor psychological health among those living in residential homes could be due to the loss of freedom, social status, autonomy and self-esteem, neglect from children and approaching death [50]. As for people with illnesses, similar to our findings, numerous literatures have suggested that living with illness can affect moods, emotions, behaviour of a person, and eventually leading to poorer mental health [31, 34, 35, 39].

Other than that, there was a positive association between age and environment QoL. Previous study supported the idea that personal and national ageing encourages individual pro-environmental behaviour [51], which is consistent with the theory of generativity. As people age, they may increasingly seek self-transcendence and meaning in life and pursue pro-social goals, and the practice of environmentally friendly actions may become one way for older persons to impart such wisdom. Besides, older people may become more involved in environmental issues due to their enhanced perceived effects of environmental risks on human health [51]. Furthermore, our findings on the positive association between education and environmental health was supported by another study, which suggested that decreasing the number of secondary school dropouts might increase pro-environmental behaviour [52]. The possible reason was that additional education explicitly teaches people the value of the environment [52].

As for social media needs, our study revealed that affective and social integrative needs were significantly associated with the physical health domain of QoL. According to previous research, people who actively engage in online social networks were more likely to be socially active by having online interactions and new friends. This may have favourable effects on their physical well-being [53]. Controversially, previous literature also found strong feelings of dependency on Facebook was correlated with poorer physical health [54].

Moreover, our study revealed that affective and social integrative needs were significantly associated with psychological health. In fact, it is known that humans genetically have a strong desire to connect with people, especially to share their feelings. By utilizing social media, users who enjoy virtual connections would gain many advantages, which could potentially affect their emotional well-being and psychological health [55]. In line with our study, previous research revealed a positive correlation between online social media use for interaction and psychological health [56]. Indeed, social media can provide opportunities to engage and support individuals with mental health issues [57]. Contrary, a systematic review of 16 studies found a negative association between social integrative needs and psychological health. It found that some teens had anxiety from social media due to fear of missing out, and they would regularly check all their friends’ messages [58]. In addition, a recent study revealed that taking a 1-week break from using social media can substantially improve well-being, depression, and anxiety [59].

Interestingly, for social relationship domain of QoL, our study findings suggested that it has a negative correlation with affective needs, whereas a positive association with social integrative needs. This might be due to social media use for affective needs often produces unrealistic expectations as people may compare their physical and virtual relationships [60]. Another possible reason was that certain characteristics of social media users like social isolation might influence real-life social relationship quality. However, particularly for students with introvert personality, they were more likely to communicate online as online chatting is more comfortable for them [61]. In addition, our finding could be attributable to the benefit of relational reconnection from social media, in which social media use can improve social connectedness especially during COVID-19 lockdowns [62, 63]. Preventive measures and practices towards COVID-19 have restrained physical contacts and meetings, which highlighted the crucial need for social media platform in communication [64]. In fact, social media has been the platform for promoting health and disseminating health information globally during the pandemic [20, 28]. Infectious diseases will continue to emerge and re-emerge, leading to unpredictable epidemics and difficult challenges to public health [65, 66]. As going digital is indispensable, this underscores the importance of social media in daily needs fulfillment to enable better well-being and QoL.

Furthermore, the impact of social media use on physical, psychological, and social QoL was found to be statistically significant when used for diversion, aligning with earlier findings that problematic use of social networking sites correlates with attempts to alleviate boredom [67]. Studies have also linked problematic use of social media with poor psychological health outcomes [68], depression [69], and anxiety [70]. The biopsychosocial paradigm—encompassing withdrawal, conflict, tolerance, salience, mood modification, and relapse—provides a framework for understanding problematic social media use [71]. Social media, when used to alter mood or escape problems, can lead to addictive behaviors. The obsession with social media, reflected in its salience, may contribute to sedentary habits and lower levels of physical activity, which increase the risk of non-communicable diseases [72]. Additionally, excessive use can lead to irritability in the absence of social media, potentially harming social interactions [60]. It is imperative for government policies to target the resultant sedentary lifestyles and mental health issues arising from social media use. Moreover, the promulgation of such policies via social media channels is advisable to ensure broad dissemination and enhance the efficacy of government-public communication [73].

The study leverages a large and culturally diverse sample from 10 countries, enhancing the understanding of social media’s effects on QoL on an international scale. The use of well-validated instruments, the WHOQOL-BREF and SNSUN scales, adds rigor to the research outcomes. It also thoughtfully considers the influence of education on QoL, providing nuanced insights into the social implications of social media use. The study is, however, limited by a convenience sampling method that may not be representative of the global population, potentially biasing the results. Unequal sample sizes across countries pose a challenge for valid cross-cultural comparisons and understanding the differential impact of social media. The cross-sectional design limits the ability to track changes over time or establish causality. Recommendations for future research include adopting probability sampling methods to improve representativeness and balance. Ensuring equal sample distribution across participating countries will enhance the validity of international comparisons. Longitudinal studies are suggested to better understand the causal relationships between social media use and QoL over extended periods.