Mental health, is social media good or bad? The latest studies

Many studies have investigated the effects (positive and harmful) produced by social media on the mental health and well-being of young people. As always happens, however, social media should not be considered a priori good or bad: their function is neutral and adaptable to the concrete uses for which they are intended

it seems like an eternity has passed since social platforms made their entry into the digital world, ushering in the era of sharing as an emblem of the global network, the positive bearer of a revolution with extraordinary disclosure potential capable of spreading a large amount of information in the virtual space.

However, contrary to the initial expectations aimed at outlining the existence of an interconnected, prosperous and safe global cyber-village, over the years, in more recent times, probably hand in hand with a progressive involutionary regression of the overall society, the benefits perceived by the pervasive development of the Internet have given way to the rampant dark side of the Web, with generalized side effects that have led to a profound negative metamorphosis of social media.
According to the latest edition of the Digital Report 2022 (edited by We Are Social), social media users have reached the threshold of 4.62 billion (corresponding to approximately 58.4% of the world population) compared to only 1 48 billion users detected in 2012, with an annual average of 12% in constant growth over time up to an increase of over 10% in the last year monitored alone compared to 2021 (+424 million people).
Going beyond the mere appearance of statistical data, until discovering that online "all that glitters is not gold", a series of worrying critical issues have emerged related to the use of social platforms to the point of justifying a serious and detailed reflection on their effective impact on people's lives.

In this sense, for example, the recent revelations of a former employee of Facebook "on what he saw while working" in Zuckerberg's headquarters to the point of abandoning his professional position after having ascertained, also on the basis of thousands of confidential documents consulted, the existence - ritually denied by the "big-tech" - of significant damage caused by the products developed by the Californian giant on the mental health of adolescents, manifesting among other things anxiety disorders and suicidal thoughts, as a conscious corporate choice (according to the informant) aimed at sacrificing user safety on the altar of profits products from the ravenous online business. An internal research confirming the amplifying impact of social media on the worsening moods of young people and on body image problems for adolescent girls, thus causing depression, low self-esteem and eating disorders, would have even been long kept secret. .
Beyond the single episode considered in itself, in practice studies are proliferating with increasing frequency aimed at developing methodological metrics capable of analyzing the variations that the use of social media causes on moods and emotions, also in the light of the rampant phenomenon emulative of acts of self-harm that has even led to cases of suicide.

In other words, based on what was stated in a recent article by MIT - Technology Review - with respect to the generalized and pervasive use of social media there is a significant "structural" problem fueled by the so-called "emotional contagion" that these platforms generate on the users' mood, changing "depending on the version of the product they are exposed to", in order to maximize the time spent online and catalyze constant interactive involvement even at the cost of creating psychological dependence, as an alarming criticality that cannot be overcome by resorting to the simple moderation of content (although the related information "filter" system may be sophisticated and perfected in terms of algorithmic development).
Even without completely disregarding the benefits that exist in any case with the advent of the Internet and social media, the "digital age of vulnerability" takes shape - according to the term coined by sector research - to describe the "toxic" effects that social platforms have an impact on the mental health of young people, stimulating the release of dopamine which acts, like "a chemical substance of well-being", as a neurotransmitter to create a continuous addiction (even comparable to that caused by alcohol and cigarettes). It follows that, in addition to the exponential increase in the common symptoms of anxiety and depression, sometimes even more violent aggressive or offensive attitudes are manifested in the contents shared online, further affected by a dystopian perception of images modified by the numerous filters available capable of altering reality compared to the fictitious appearance reflected on the net. The desire for continuous attention, as a "social reward" of an expected result measured by viewing the number of "likes" and comments, always keeps the constant virtual interaction of the user in a state of high hyper-excitation in the intent -
according to the aforementioned research – to “increase one's self-esteem […]with the hope of receiving positive feedback” to obtain immediate gratification which induces him to continuously update his profiles. These are, therefore, the worrying features of the dark side of the Net that seem to outline a real pathological syndrome of fear of being disconnected and of getting lost online (so-called "Fear of Missing Out" - acronym FOMO) closely connected to the unprecedented paradigm "Digito ergo sum", as a new addiction that can be configured in the context of behavioral and cognitive disorders caused by excessive use of the Internet (so-called "Internet Addiction Disorder") which can also be declined as "Smartphone Addiction".

In a certain sense, it is the same technical structure of social platforms that unconsciously encourages a sort of spatio-temporal "dissociation", causing people to lose "cognition of time", with increasingly unhappy, dejected, conflicted, violent and aggressive behavioral deficits .
In the USA, on the other hand, in a historical moment in which Congress seems - at least in theory - intent on reforming the current legislation (currently "pro Big-tech"), overcoming the current "hyper-protective" discipline envisaged by the general framework of Section 230 of the "Communications Decency Act" of 1996, a series of regulatory proposals are being examined containing corrective actions to the discipline introduced by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, above all with a view to guaranteeing adequate standards of transparency and complete information on the knowability integral of the algorithmic classification system.

In particular, the CD was recently presented. "Kids Online Safety Act" to impose, to protect the privacy of children, new stringent restrictions on technology companies which, also following the outcome of independent audits previously carried out for prevention purposes, are required to contain and minimize the risk of unlawful conduct and malicious software that caIf the need to introduce new regulations capable of solving the existing critical issues emerges, with increasing urgency, to tell the truth, however, it is all too easy and superficial to consider social media the absolute evil, as a scapegoat for the problems reported, as the exclusive source of responsibility for the damage that the use of these platforms causes on young people. In reality, in practice, some "high-tech" companies are also particularly active in introducing new tools to protect children, regardless of the existence of legal constraints placed on them. For example, according to an article in The Guardian, TikTok has turned off notifications for children during its late night slot, while Instagram has completely removed its targeted advertising for children under 18, also announcing child safety features that include new tools (like “take a break”) to help limit the time spent online (TikTok also has a similar feature that appears when users spend too much time on the app.). YouTube has turned off autoplay for teen users.n be configured online, as well as to disable the functionality of addictive applications.