West Virginia health officials are ramping up efforts to educate the public about the impacts of social media on the well-being of young people.
In a recent New York Times op-ed, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy wrote that the mental health crisis among the young is an emergency, and social media has emerged as an important contributor to that.
He proposed a surgeon general’s warning label be placed on social media platforms to inform users of its addictive nature.
Neuroscience research show social media’s “endless scroll” mimics the addictive nature seen in casino gambling behaviors, said Dana Coester, a professor at the West Virginia University Reed College of Media and creative director for the College’s Media Innovation Center.
Coester conducted research that looked at nonconsensual exposure to toxic content in mainstream platforms. She observed elementary- and middle school-aged children consuming a mix of shame-inducing, violent, pornographic, gore, misogynistic, racist and other harmful content.
“This content is often portrayed as jokes, and is combined with benign and even wholesome content, which works to desensitize youth to traumatic content, and to create feelings of shame and isolation, which can make them more susceptible for potential manipulation,” she said.
Increasing levels of depression and mental illness associated with social media use are also documented, Coester added, including body image issues experienced by young girls.
Most online content becomes less authentic and more extreme over time, Coester said, and some young people may be more susceptible to malign online influences.
“As this content becomes ever more performative and adapted for clicks, it also becomes more removed from authentic relationships and the complexities and nuances of lived human experiences,” she said. “As a result, more and more extreme behavior is rewarded, whether that is extreme images of beauty or masculinity or other extreme expressions of human identities, feelings, desires and fears.”
Social media also activates the dopamine centers in the brain and can feel reinforcing, said Britani Black, an assistant professor with the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.
Long-term effects of social media use are unknown given how relatively new social media still is, Black said.
Initiatives in West Virginia are already underway to combat the problem.
US Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has co-sponsored the Kids Online Safety Act, which mandates that social media platforms offer minors options to safeguard their information, disable addictive features and opt out of algorithmic recommendations.
The legislation also empowers parents with new controls to monitor and address harmful activity affecting their children. Additionally, it establishes a dedicated reporting channel for parents and children to report harms to the platform and mandates regular independent audits to ensure platform accountability.
The bill gained momentum in the Commerce Committee, but has not yet received a floor vote despite passing through committee last July.
Eyes on the Board Act, which is led by Commerce Committee Ranking Member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., is another initiative Capito is working on.
Currently, the Universal Service Fund’s E-Rate program helps connect schools to the internet, allowing every child the same opportunities to learn. However, there is no provision that requires schools to prohibit the use of social media apps.
The Eyes on the Board Act would help ensure students use the program for learning instead of social media.
Families can mitigate the negative effects of social media through replacement behaviors such as, walking, reading or a family game night, Black said.
“Build in something else that you look forward to or fills the time,” she said. “To try to replace a habit; don’t just stop it.”