Social Media

people of different generations using smartphones

Psychological science demonstrating the impacts of social media use, especially on young people, is a rapidly evolving and growing area of research with implications for many stakeholders (e.g., youth, parents, caregivers, educators, policymakers, practitioners, and members of the tech industry) who share responsibility to ensure adolescents’ well-being.

Our focus

  • The Impact of Social Media on Young People
    We increasingly understand that social media use is impacting the mental and behavioral health of young people. More must be done by policymakers to maximize the positives and minimize the negative impacts of these technologies.
  • Curtailing the spread of misinformation
    Misinformation continues to spread rapidly across social media, presenting risks to individual health and societal well-being. Psychological science plays an important role in fighting misinformation spread and there is more policymakers must do to enable more research mitigate misinformation.
Perhaps most notably, psychological research suggests that young people form and maintain friendships online. These relationships often afford opportunities to interact with a more diverse peer group than offline, and the relationships are close and meaningful and provide important support to youth in times of stress. This can be especially important for youth with marginalized identities, including racial, ethnic, sexual and gender minorities.
—Mitch Prinstein, PhD, APA Chief Science Officer to the Senate Judiciary Committee 2023

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Contact us

Corbin Evans
Senior Director, Congressional and Federal Relations

Raegina Likewise
Manager of Congressional and Federal Relations

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Date created: January 2024