The U.S. surgeon general has issued an advisory on the need to make social media safer for young people and youth.
“Up to 95 per cent of young people aged 13-17 report using a social media platform. Nearly two thirds of teenagers report using social media every day and one third report using social media almost constantly,” says Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. surgeon general in his advisory.
The advisory goes on to discuss the evidence of impacts social media has on the mental health of children and adolescents with an emphasis on the lack of long-term data and research regarding the overall effects of social media usage.
“Social media, if we think about it, is so new,” says Kaitlynn Mendes, associate professor of sociology with Western University with a specialization in social media.
“In the last 10 years, so much has exploded that I think researchers really just haven’t developed these longer term studies.”
With the popularity of apps such as Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and more, social media has become an influential medium on not just individuals and people, but now having the power to influence groups and businesses on a larger scale.
Mendes talks about some of the dangers when it comes to mental health on these platforms, but also goes into detail about how much worse it can still be people part of marginalized groups.
“If you’re queer, if you’re from a racialized group or a gender minority group, again the outcomes seem to be worse. Partly, that’s because these groups are also exposed more to harm, discrimination, harassment when they’re using these social media platforms. So, there does seem to be some research showing those kinds of links.”
These apps have more recently caught further amounts of attention due to the continuous access of data and information.
“We give so much data away on a daily basis, people don’t read the terms and conditions, so people aren’t aware of how apps are tracking you across platforms,” says Mendes.
“There’s so much data that your phone knows about you that it’s sharing and so Facebook, Instagram, or whatever app people are using, they know exactly what ads to feed you.”
While adults can often distinguish when businesses are trying to lead them in a certain direction based on content and ads, Mendes points out that children and youth’s brains aren’t often developed enough to filter out the negative content, leaving them more susceptible to manipulation.
“The aim isn’t just to eliminate it, it’s to say how can we make sure that social media and digital technologies, more broadly, are empowering and fun and educational, supportive spaces in our life. Not things that drain us, give us anxiety and depression, things we feel we can’t switch off from.”
While most media attention is often focusing on the negatives of social media usage, Mendes continued to talk about how it can also provide communities for people who need them, easy access to current information, and bring light to otherwise neglected issues.
“We think of the “Me Too” movement or “Black Lives Matter”, so bringing social issues to the public’s attention, social media has absolutely been responsible for that. That’s hugely positive and in the research, talking with young people, they talk about this consciousness raising impact that social media had for them on a whole range of social issues.”
At the end of the day, there are no indications that social media will be going anywhere any time soon, more than likely developing further and changing rapidly as time goes on.
With that, social media along with its pros and cons are important conversations to talk about, with Mendes recommending Londoners have conversations with their kids about the dangers and benefits that come with social media.
“I think everyone needs to be talking about it because social media is such a big part of everyone’s lives. We think about even younger kids who are getting phones and social media from younger ages, so I think it’s really important to be talking about what they like about it, what they don’t like about it and I suppose if it gives you a chance to talk about things they don’t like about it, then maybe there’s opportunities to intervene.”
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