Social media can help teenagers to form an identity. It can even strengthen their mental health. This is shown by new research from the University of Skövde.
You are a parent of a teenager and you are worried. Social media has tightened its grip on your teenager’s time and reality. You feel that the screen has become a threat to sleep, school performance and mental health. However, research from the University of Skövde now shows that teenagers are not the passive victims of digital media that we are sometimes led to believe.
Finding like-minded people
“Our new study shows that teenagers use social media as a kind of emotional regulator. On social media, they find like-minded people who can offer support. This helps them to form an identity and can even strengthen their mental health,” says Kristina Carlén, researcher at the University of Skövde.
Alongside the positive aspects, Kristina Carlén and her fellow researchers also see the negative consequences of social media in their study. Poor sleep quality and reduced time with family are negative effects of spending too much time on social media. In addition, social media can encourage comparisons that create stress and negatively affect body image.
Less screen time – not a solution
“But we will not solve these problems by focusing on how much time someone spends in front of a screen. Instead, we need to address the much more difficult ethical issues of social comparison, bullying, sexualisation and social exclusion – whether this takes place online or in the school playground,” says Kristina Carlén.
Instead of focusing on screen time, adults should learn more about how they can support teenagers in their use of social media, she argues.
“We need more research into how adults can understand and become part of teenagers’ use of social media. We also need more research into which strategies, for example schools and healthcare services, should use to help teenagers strengthen their mental health and avoid developing mental ill health,” says Kristina Carlén.
She also believes that we should turn the spotlight on the technology behind social media:
“We should really devote more effort to jointly highlighting the importance of scrutinising the tech giants’ algorithms and how they affect our teenagers’ media use.”
Read the study Digital media use—a magnifying glass for mental health in adolescents: a qualitative systematic review
