Public health expert discusses the impact of social media on teens

As the U.S. government weighs major policy decisions regarding social media, including a potential forced sale of TikTok and new legislation to protect young users, the comprehensiveness of the research underlying these decisions is coming under scrutiny.

A 2024 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) titled “Social media and adolescent health“can help inform those decisions, but an expert at Rutgers Health believes the panel should have included more public health experts and considered more research findings.

Jon-Patrick Allem, associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, discussed the NASEM report in a recent American Journal of Public Health editorialHe presented his ideas for improvement at Rutgers Today.

How could the panel membership have been improved?

NASEM appointed only one person from a school of public health to this committee. This is an important omission, because public health scientists have a rich history of studying how private sector activities, including those of social media companies, affect people’s health.

I am also concerned that two experts on the committee received industry funding. These conflicts of interest could compromise the integrity of the committee report. People trained in public health, particularly tobacco control and alcohol prevention, understand the importance of qualifying research from industry-funded scientists.

What studies did the panel consider?

There was a narrow focus on screen time and mental health outcomes. Many studies included in the report use blunt measures of social media use, generally time spent on platforms, without considering the specific views of the content user. The results are typically limited to mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

This approach misses crucial aspects of how social media affects adolescent health. Time alone doesn’t tell us much: you can spend hours watching educational videos or hours watching content that glorifies substance use. These experiences would have very different effects, but studies that only measure time on social media would treat them the same.

What additional research findings would have improved the report?

The report ignored several critical pieces of evidence, particularly studies on how specific content on social media platforms can influence youth offline attitudes and behaviors. For example, meta-analyses show links between exposure to pro-alcohol content on social media and offline alcohol use among adolescents. Similar studies exist for tobacco and unhealthy food content.

These content-focused studies provide crucial insights into how social media influences adolescent behavior, beyond mental health outcomes. By omitting this evidence, the report fails to provide a comprehensive assessment of the relationship between social media and adolescent health.

What needs to happen in the future to collect better information?

First, we need more transparency from social media companies. They should be required to make public the materials that drive content moderation. This would allow for more meaningful oversight.

Finally, we need a broader, more holistic approach to studying the impact of social media on adolescent health. This means looking beyond mental health outcomes and considering how social media exposure affects a range of health behaviors, from substance use to nutrition to body image.

How could this information influence future government policy?

Policymakers should consider the full range of ways social media can affect adolescent health, not just screen time or mental health outcomes. They should push for more transparency from social media companies about the content on their platforms, including what kind of potentially harmful content is there, how widespread it is, and how easily adolescents can see it.

We should also fund comprehensive, interdisciplinary research on the impact of social media on adolescent health. This research should inform evidence-based policies that can effectively protect young people while providing the potential benefits of social media use.

By taking these steps, we can develop a more nuanced and effective approach to regulating social media and protecting the health of adolescents in the digital age.