Juries in California and New Mexico recently found social media companies liable for exposing young people to mental health harm, suicide risk and other safety concerns in two major court cases.
As punishment, they imposed hundreds of millions of dollars in financial penalties.
Meanwhile, other social media companies have settled out of court in the California case for an undisclosed amount, rather than await a verdict.
Many more court cases are still in process. And federal regulators, Congress, state governments and social media companies are talking about requiring age verification, better monitoring, and more.
But young people, old people, and all social media users now have options to protect their mental health, and don’t have to wait for juries, judges, lawmakers or companies to act, say experts from the University of Michigan Health and their colleagues.
They’ve launched an easy-to-follow and free “Social Media Mini Course” that walks anyone through the key settings on different social media platforms that users can change to make their experience more positive, and less risky, if they choose to stay on social media.
It is available through the @socialmediaminicourse Instagram account, or directly, as an interactive website.
The link in the Instagram account bio leads to a page with more information and free tools, as well as to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The settings shown in the mini-course – from disabling such as counting on Instagram to refreshing the For You feed on TikTok – disrupt some potentially harmful properties of the platform for young people.
The toolkit also walks users through scenarios of how the use of social media can affect mood, self-images, sleep patterns and more, and asks them to reflect on their own use and what they might want to change.
The team tested the mini-course with young people. It is also included in the course of advice from participants in the MyVoice youth study, which has been conducted a message-based poll on social media and many other topics in teenagers and young adults for years.
UM CS Mott Children’s Hospital child and adolescent psychiatrist Jane Abah, DO, helped lead the development of the mini-course and testing.
“We are all definitely limited by the settings offered and the design of the platform itself,” he says. “We have been able to introduce new information to young people about turning off the same amount, refreshing the For You or Explore pages, setting time limits and changing the content provided on social media, but there is much more that can be done.”
Discussions about social media use between parents and young people, or among young people, are very important, she said.
“Some young people use these features and settings, as shown in our study a few years ago, while others are not aware that they exist,” said Abah, who is an adjunct faculty member in the UM Medical School Department of Psychiatry. “The growing concern also includes AI chatbots,” he said, which could play a role in suicidal thoughts or early signs of psychosis.
The team behind the mini course recognizes that social media can have a positive effect on young people if used in moderation and using safety settings – for example, connecting them with friends, family and a wider world of information and views.
They hope their mini-course will help families, youth and social media users to navigate the online world more safely.
In addition to Abah, the social media mini course was created by clinical child psychologist Sarah E. Domoff, Ph.D., from the University at Albany, child psychiatrist Heide Rollings, MD and Amy Mancuso, LMSW of Michigan State University and Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and clinical psychologist Jessica Schleider, Ph.D., from Northwestern University. The youth MyVoice study is led by Tammy Chang, MD, MPH, MS, from the UM Department of Family Medicine.
The mini-course evaluation was funded by the University of Michigan Medical School’s Research Scout program and the Todd Ouida Clinical Scholar Award from the UM Eisenberg Family Depression Center.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, including suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via phone, text and web chat. Call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org.
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