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Here鈥檚 a quick quiz: Think back to Thanksgiving. Was your smartphone at the table? Did you scour Facebook or Instagram between courses? Did you post a selfie to mark the occasion?

With social media occupying a bigger and bigger role in our lives, health experts are increasingly concerned about the role it has on adolescent mental health.

鈥淚n the span of a generation, social media has really dramatically changed the landscape of adolescents鈥� development around the clock,鈥� Eva Telzer told members of a committee earlier this month.

Telzer is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill. She told committee members that several decades ago adolescents were interacting with each other in person. Now adolescent social relationships are occurring largely behind a screen.

鈥淭heir posts are relatively permanent and public. Anybody can see them. They have this digital stress to be available around the clock,鈥� explained Dr. Telzer.

Social media has in effect transformed what it means to be an adolescent today.

Seventy-eight percent of 13- to 17-year-olds are checking their devices hourly, with 46% checking them almost constantly.

鈥淭his has risen dramatically just in the past five or so years. For example, in 2018, just 24% of adolescents were reporting checking them almost constantly. And so, this is really important to really think about, because adolescent social media use is increasing exponentially,鈥� Telzer told the task force鈥檚 Intentional Death Prevention Committee.

Dr. Telzer said that this increase in social media use is happening at an extremely important developmental period when the adolescent brain is also going through dramatic changes.

The brain becomes very sensitive to social rewards and learning to avoid social punishments.

鈥淪ocial media itself can fundamentally change the developing brain,鈥� she warned. 鈥淎nd what鈥檚 even more concerning is that this is all happening at a developmental window when adolescents鈥� mental health disorders are beginning to show increases that鈥�relate to impulse control disorder, substance use, anxiety, mood and other symptoms.鈥�

Sam Hiner is a junior at UNC Chapel Hill who wants to see legislative guardrails for social media.

Hiner co-founded the to give his generation a greater voice in the issues not being addressed by state policymakers. One area the alliance would like to see addressed is the mental health crisis faced by youth.

Hiner said the simple act of hovering over an image about healthy eating can spiral you down a rabbit hole that was never intended.

鈥淚 was literally just looking at it. Next thing you know, you see more and more content like that, and it gets more and more extreme,鈥� Hiner told the committee.

鈥淪o, your feed on Instagram or TikTok, you鈥檙e seeing more content containing unrealistic body standards, pictures of insanely skinny models that are photoshopped and things like that. And you鈥檙e seeing unrealistic dieting standards as well.鈥�

Hiner said the social media stream is being shaped by an algorithm that recognizes where a user may pause or click and then serves up more content to keep the user online for as long as possible.

鈥淏ut what ends up happening to a lot of these teens is their feeds become full of really harmful content. And that鈥檚 all they see anymore because of the way the algorithm works.鈥�

Hiner said the same goes for political extremism.

鈥淧eople seeing more and more extremist content over time can completely shift their worldview. And that鈥檚 something that is really shockingly common among my generation,鈥� said Hiner.

And that steady stream of content can influence how teens or young adults feel about themselves.

One in 10 children in North Carolina aged 3-17 has a diagnosis of anxiety or depression. One in five seriously considered attempting suicide, according to NC Healthy Schools data.

Hiner and the Young People鈥檚 Alliance are pushing for legislation in the North Carolina General Assembly that would prevent the data of minors from being used in algorithms that are promoting content or targeted advertisements. Adult users would have the option to turn off that supply of user data.

The Social Media Algorithmic Control in Information Technology (SMAC IT) Act was introduced last May with 62 bipartisan co-sponsors. While passed a House judiciary committee unanimously, it remains in the House Appropriations committee.

North Carolina鈥檚 Department of Justice is also examining the impact social media is having on children鈥檚 mental health and overall well-being.

In late October, Attorney General Josh Stein joined a group of 33 attorneys general to file suit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

The lawsuit alleges that Meta knew its platforms were harmful for children but continued to market them to young people to increase profits. Teens are motivated by immediate rewards, and Meta leveraged those vulnerabilities to get young users to spend more time online.

鈥淭he features like push notifications, infinite scroll, auto play, disappearing content, all of that seeks to keep them on the platforms for longer,鈥� explained Laura Brewer, deputy chief of staff at the NC Department of Justice.

Recently allege that Meta collected minor children鈥檚 data from Instagram accounts without their parents鈥� consent.

But it could take years for that case to wind its way through the courts.

Whitney Belich, co-chair of the , believes the negative influence of social media must be addressed sooner rather than later.

鈥淚t just kind of makes sense to me that if we鈥檙e so concerned about getting help for these kids who need mental health treatment, we should be equally concerned with the things that are leading to them needing it in the first place,鈥� Belich said.

The committee agreed to endorse in 2024 that addresses addictive algorithms in social media.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important before we have a whole nother generation of teenagers and beyond that are dealing with these things,鈥� said Belich.

For the current generation, Telzer, the UNC professor of psychology and neuroscience, said parents must understand that social media is not going away.

She suggests caring adults follow the guidance of the and engage in social media literacy. Communicate with adolescents what is unsafe about social media, and perhaps more importantly, how to identify misinformation and disinformation.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 just give adolescents the keys to a car and let them go out and drive in the world. There鈥檚 training that happens before we sort of release the keys,鈥� shared Telzer. 鈥淓ngaging in some social media literacy is really important.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: [email protected]. Follow NC Newsline on and .

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