Report urges industry-wide standards for social media to minimize harm and maximize benefit to adolescent health
Recommendations in the report include developing standards for social media design, transparency, and data use.
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By Carol Jean Tomoguchi-Perez
February 5, 2024 With 95 percent of U.S. teenagers on smartphones, numerous studies have shown that social media use interacts with adolescent mental health. Teens, in particular, are uniquely affected by social media due to their less developed controls in regulating emotions and their desire for independence, connections and identity exploration. A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee, which included School of Education professor Stephanie Reich, recently released a report addressing the impact of social media on mental and physical health, and wellbeing of adolescents and children. The consensus report, Assessment of the Impact of Social Media on the Health and Wellbeing of Adolescents and Children, urged industry-wide standards for social media to minimize harm and maximize benefit to adolescent health. “Currently, there is limited legislation and industry standards focused on protecting kids online, especially those 13 years and older,” Reich said. “There is a need for more transparency, data sharing, and accountability.” |
Stephanie Reich
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Over the past 15 years, mental health among youth has seen a decline, which coincides with the rise of smartphone technology which changed the relationship between teens and the internet, according to the report. Given the influence social media platforms have on adolescents, the report suggests more attention needed to transparency, design, and data usage standards.
The report does not claim that social media directly causes changes in adolescent health at a population level, but stresses both potential to harm or benefit youth wellbeing. The report encourages cautious intervention over broad bans, citing the need for further research into the effects of specific platform features, such as “likes” and the scrolling format of some social media platforms.
Recommendations in the report, which extended to the U.S. Congress and Department of Education, include developing standards for social media design, transparency, and data use by the International Organization for Standardization – an international, nongovernmental organization with a long history of setting and supporting technology standards. It also encourages social media companies to enhance systems for reporting and addressing online harassment and abuse. In light of this, the Federal Trade Commission is advised to revise regulations to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
To provide relief for the victims of online harassment, the report suggests the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration develop support and intervention programs. For the medical community, the report recommends including social media processes and effects on adolescent health in their curriculum.
As per the report, obtaining more evidence is crucial, and the report calls for new research based on randomized designs, experimental platforms, long-term cohort studies, and audits of social media algorithms, supported by major federal funders such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
“‘Social media’ is not one thing but a range of online spaces, used by various people, in diverse ways, for a variety of reasons,” Reich said. “Understanding the features and affordances – that is, the possible actions that arise from the interaction of users and design features – and how they support and/or undermine adolescent development and wellbeing is needed in order to elevate the benefits and prevent the harms. In this report, we highlighted what is known currently and made recommendations for research, policy, and practice to better support youth in a socially and digitally connected world.”
Reich is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and Society for Community Research and Action. Her research focuses on understanding and improving the social context of children’s lives, centering on direct, indirect, and reciprocal influences on children, specifically through the family, digital, and school environment. Reich is a recipient of the Distinguished Early Career Applied Contributions to Media Psychology and Technology Award from the American Psychological Association and serves on the advisory boards of Raising Good Gamers, Future of Childhood, Children and Screens, and Next Gen Public Media (By/With/For Tweens and Teens).
The report does not claim that social media directly causes changes in adolescent health at a population level, but stresses both potential to harm or benefit youth wellbeing. The report encourages cautious intervention over broad bans, citing the need for further research into the effects of specific platform features, such as “likes” and the scrolling format of some social media platforms.
Recommendations in the report, which extended to the U.S. Congress and Department of Education, include developing standards for social media design, transparency, and data use by the International Organization for Standardization – an international, nongovernmental organization with a long history of setting and supporting technology standards. It also encourages social media companies to enhance systems for reporting and addressing online harassment and abuse. In light of this, the Federal Trade Commission is advised to revise regulations to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
To provide relief for the victims of online harassment, the report suggests the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration develop support and intervention programs. For the medical community, the report recommends including social media processes and effects on adolescent health in their curriculum.
As per the report, obtaining more evidence is crucial, and the report calls for new research based on randomized designs, experimental platforms, long-term cohort studies, and audits of social media algorithms, supported by major federal funders such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
“‘Social media’ is not one thing but a range of online spaces, used by various people, in diverse ways, for a variety of reasons,” Reich said. “Understanding the features and affordances – that is, the possible actions that arise from the interaction of users and design features – and how they support and/or undermine adolescent development and wellbeing is needed in order to elevate the benefits and prevent the harms. In this report, we highlighted what is known currently and made recommendations for research, policy, and practice to better support youth in a socially and digitally connected world.”
Reich is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and Society for Community Research and Action. Her research focuses on understanding and improving the social context of children’s lives, centering on direct, indirect, and reciprocal influences on children, specifically through the family, digital, and school environment. Reich is a recipient of the Distinguished Early Career Applied Contributions to Media Psychology and Technology Award from the American Psychological Association and serves on the advisory boards of Raising Good Gamers, Future of Childhood, Children and Screens, and Next Gen Public Media (By/With/For Tweens and Teens).
