Rob Morris, co-founder and CEO, Koko.
According to a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2023, 20% of high school students seriously considered suicide. Almost 1 in 10 reported making an attempt. Many have lost hope, with about 40% of students feeling so overwhelmed they withdrew from their usual activities.
Any number of factors might be behind these stark statistics. Adolescents are lonely, many suffer emotional and physical abuse and they are on their smartphones up to nine hours a day. With smartphones comes the constant presence of social media. And it is social media, above all else, that tends to dominate public conversations about youth mental health.
The Role Of Social Media Platforms
Concern around social media is widespread and shared by many, including prominent voices. The United States’ Surgeon General put out a social media advisory and the social psychologist Jonathan Haight has written extensively about the topic, most recently in his book “The Anxious Generation.” Yet, other psychologists, like Andrew Przybylski and Amy Orben, argue that these concerns may be overblown.
An analysis across 72 countries found no consistent link between social media adoption and youth mental health. Writing in Nature developmental psychologist Candice Odgers suggests that broader societal challenges, including violence and the opioid crisis, may have a more significant impact on teen well-being. Some scientists who study social media have likened current concerns to past moral panics over video games and comic books. In the 1950s, some U.S. cities banned (and even burned) comic books, for fear they would turn kids into delinquents.
In reality, the relationship between social media and adolescent mental health is more complex than headlines suggest. While some young people face serious risks, such as cyberbullying and online harassment, others find valuable social support and connection through these platforms.
But this debate over the dangers of social media can sometimes obscure a critical opportunity right in front of us: To address the youth mental health crisis, we have to reach young people where they spend most of their time—on social media. This is also the first place most adolescents go for mental health information and support. If we consider the immense reach of these platforms, and if we think about the ways they might direct kids to life-saving resources or how they might help them directly, social media may be what ultimately helps the “anxious generation” the most, at least in the short term.
How Social Media Platforms Can Help
There are a few steps that could make a significant impact without requiring social media companies to completely overhaul their business models:
1. Redirect to evidenced-based support.
For starters, social media platforms could easily identify high-risk content (such as pro-anorexia or self-harm videos) and replace it with help lines and other online interventions. Platforms can partner with experts and NGOs to offer science-backed, safe support to those most at risk.
There is already some science to support this idea. Researchers at Harvard and Koko (disclosure: I am Koko’s CEO) have shown that simple user interface changes can significantly increase the percentage of adolescents who access helpline resources. But connecting kids to help line services like 988 or Crisis Text Line is just a first step. We also need to help adolescents upstream, before they reach a crisis.
2. Give users choices.
Research shows that providing a broad suite of resources online, not just help lines, can significantly improve mental health outcomes across a range of young individuals. Some platforms have already explored this idea to an extent. Companies like Meta offer “safety centers” with various self-care activities, like recommendations to reach out to a friend or ways to practice deep breathing.
Unfortunately, the effectiveness of these resources has not been evaluated in peer-reviewed research. Social media companies can lean on expert partners to help provide programs that are evidence-based and can be easily deployed.
Universities such as Northwestern, Stanford, MIT and UC Irvine, among others, have been developing and evaluating a wide variety of support services for years. Research suggests that short online self-guided interventions can significantly improve a number of mental health outcomes for adolescents, such as depression symptoms and feelings of hopelessness—and these improvements can last for at least three months. And these tools can be embedded directly into social platforms, reaching kids where they are.
3. Create approachable resources.
Research shows even brief 30-minute interventions can significantly reduce feelings of hopelessness and self-hate among adolescents and can effectively serve diverse youth populations across different languages, with completion rates nearly doubling when implemented through community partnerships. Integrating these tools into social platforms is quite simple—it often just requires adding a well-placed link when users search for potentially harmful content.
None of these services should replace traditional therapy or distract us from addressing deeper systemic issues. And they won’t help everyone, but this approach can still improve the lives of millions of young people who may never get help otherwise. By leveraging the power of social media for good, I believe there’s a chance to make some real progress and a meaningful impact.
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