A Double-Edged Sword: How Diverse Communities of Young People Think About the Multifaceted Relationship Between Social Media and Mental Health

As we continue to focus on improving the mental health of young people, social media's influence remains a key concern for families, schools, and communities. Young people bring their own unique lived experiences to social media spaces, and as a result, have different experiences with the content and communities they find there. These experiences are a decidedly mixed bag for a young person of color, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or a young person who already has symptoms of depression.
 

We partnered with Hopelab on the third report in a series that's been tracking the role of social media in how young people age 14–22 support their mental health and well-being. Uniquely, this study was co-created with young people themselves, who not only provided direction and input regarding survey content, but also worked with the study team to prioritize and interpret results through focus groups and individual interviews.
 

We learned that social media remains a double-edged sword for young people, with both benefits and costs when it comes to supporting their mental health and well-being. Many young people turn to these digital technologies to find emotional support, to connect with friends and family, to learn about ways to support their own mental health and well-being, to build community where one may be hard to find locally, and to just decompress by having fun.
 

But at the same time, they experience stressful content and must actively take steps to manage their exposure to it, including taking temporary and permanent breaks from certain platforms. And young people from communities of color, the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and those who already have symptoms of moderate to severe depression have both the most to gain and the most to lose from social media.
 

It's comforting to learn that many young people are actively curating their social media feeds to see more of what helps—and less of what doesn't. But they still acknowledge that they cannot always control their online experiences as well as they would like. We need more research and public understanding of the specific challenges that groups like youth with depressive symptoms and LGBTQ+ young people face associated with social media, and more public education for families, schools, teens, and beyond about how to manage the challenges that social media presents without diminishing the positive benefits. But we also need action from companies and legislators to ensure that social media companies design these platforms with the well-being of all youth in mind.

More resources: 

• See the press release.

• Read our blog on why this research is vital to making social media as healthy as it can be for young people.

• Explore our advice for parents and caregivers on how to support teens and young adults.

• For educators, check out our digital well-being lessons for grades K-12 to support students' overall social and emotional learning.

• Check out resources for young people from our partners at Hopelab.

• Read the previous reports in this series from 2021 and 2018.