A new report details the role social media plays in the lives of young people, and how they manage the various pros and cons — including in the context of being a person of color or LGBTQ+, or having depression.
Those benefits and drawbacks include valuing online platforms for social connection, self-expression and information, while also feeling the brunt of social media’s effects on their attention span, confidence and contentedness, according to the report released Tuesday by Common Sense Media and Hopelab, a social innovation lab and impact investor aiming to support the well-being of young people.
“Most conversations and headlines surrounding social media and youth mental (health) focus solely on the harms, portraying young people as passive consumers. This research shows that it’s much more complex,” said Amy Green, head of research at Hopelab, in a news release. “If we truly want to improve the well-being of young people, we need to listen to their experiences and ensure that we do not inadvertently remove access to crucial positive benefits.”
Also driving the research is the national youth mental health crisis, the authors said, marked by increasing rates of mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression, suicidal thoughts and attempts, and antidepressant medications prescribed to youth. In conversations about these phenomena, social media has consistently been at the center, though mental health issues can have multiple contributing factors.
previously called the National Opinion Research Center — at the University of Chicago, the research includes 1,274 teens (ages 14 to 17) and young adults (ages 18 to 22) recruited online between October and November 2023. The young people “provided direction and input regarding survey content” and participated in focus groups and interviews to help the research team prioritize and interpret results, according to a news release. The report is the third in a series tracking the influence of social media on well-being among youth.
The researchers found the rate of depressive symptoms among youth is about 10% down from pandemic highs but is still high and comparable to the elevated levels of 2018. Nearly half of young people reported experiencing any severity of depression, and nearly a third (28%) said they had moderate to severe symptoms.
Additionally, about half of LGBTQ+ youth reported moderate to severe symptoms of depression, compared to nearly one-quarter of their non-LGBTQ+ peers.
Those with depression were more susceptible to social comparison and pressure to show their best selves on social media. But they were also more likely to find resources to support their well-being and curate their feeds for this purpose — done by selecting a “not interested” button on content they don’t like, flagging inappropriate or offensive content, or blocking someone whose content bothered them. These youth also positively curated feeds by “liking” and spending more time on content they did enjoy, since many social media algorithms work by giving you more content based on your level of engagement with certain topics.
This was especially important for LGBTQ+ youth who, along with Black and Latinx young people, faced more exposure to harassment and stress online.
