Funding for a long-term study on the effects of social media on 325 Wisconsin teenagers aged 13-15 resumed on Monday after funding for the study was frozen by the Trump administration in March of this year, according to UW News.
The study is operating on a five-year $7.5 million grant from the National Institute of Health who terminated the grant on the basis that the grant no longer “effectuates agency priorities,” according to UW News.
The project consists of three independent studies led by different researchers, each focusing on different aspects of student interaction with social media. All three studies draw from the same pool of 325 participants, according to UW News.
President of Wisconsin Wellness — a UW student organization hosting weekly events dedicated to self care and kindness — Lindsay Gilge said she thinks current college students are going to shape how social media affects people.
“I think students right now, the age most of us are, grew up on the internet,” Gilge said. “I think we’re going to kind of serve as a big case study for what social media can do to someone.”
The study aims to assess how interactions with social media can shape adolescent behavior, how social media can predict an adolescent’s social and emotional health and how adolescents process social media experiences — which is measured using MRI, according to UW News.
Social media has considerable drawbacks, according to Gilge.
“There are some negative effects that we are just now starting to study and see what’s actually going on,” Gilge said.
The study has no positive or negative opinions and it is is not trying to say social media is good or bad, lead researcher Megan Moreno said.
The study quotes students recounting stories of being bullied or otherwise harassed through social media as well as having issues with self esteem.
For UW students, university tuition covers access to mental health resources through the University Health Services which can be beneficial especially if there is a deep underlying problem, Gilge said.
“I very much encourage students to seek out mental health professionals,” Gilge said.
Social media is a complicated topic and can be harmful or healthy, according to the National Health Institute. One such way the NIH encourages people to engage with social media is to carefully consider what environment you are cultivating for yourself online, and to consider that social media can normalize excessive alcohol and drug use.
Gilge advocates for students to build community offline and emphasizes the importance of the physical world in regulating students’ relationships with social media.
“Being around your loved ones, trying to build community, is very helpful to remind you that the real world doesn’t look the same as social media,” Gilge said.
