Social media provides many benefits to teens, such as offering and receiving social support, experiencing a sense of community, and expanding one’s worldview. On the other hand, if you’re noticing troubling changes in your teen's mood or behavior, consider whether their social media could be the culprit or a contributor.

Information about attitudes and behaviors related to the intersection of mental wellness and social media is continually emerging. For example, a 2023 meta-analysis confirms that social media use often increases social comparisons for those who are vulnerable (McComb, Vanman, and Tobin, 2023). (That's when a person sees someone else's life, image, body shape, whatever, and compares it to theirs.) In rare cases, a teen seeing something they desire or envy might inspire them. However, for the most part, upward social comparisons happen from social media (McComb, Vanman, and Tobin; Verduyn and colleagues, 2020). And those tend to tank feelings of wellness and self-value; negative beliefs about oneself connect to a bevy of mental health struggles.

Research has revealed other social media-related attitudes and behaviors that may threaten mental wellness.

Though anecdotal evidence was gathered from clinical work, the following are worth mentioning.

Finally, according to Reuters, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against social media companies on behalf of children and teens. These lawsuits allege social media companies place profits over safety (Stempel, Bartz, and Raymond, 2023; Stempel and Raymond, 2023). The allegations include unsupervised and unlimited access to social media results in a variety of negative physical, mental, and emotional consequences—including suicide—tied to social media use. When reflecting on the whistleblower testimony exposed in 2021 (for example, Meta knew Instagram was addictive and worsened body image........

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