This is a recording of the Social Media & Youth: Perils, Powers, and Pathways to Resilience panel on August 1, 2023.

The Pacific Southwest MHTTC gathered a group of leaders in the fields of social science research, mental health and youth advocacy including Senior Research Scientist and Director of Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab at Wellesley College, Linda Charmaraman; Founder/CEO of Log OFF Movement, Emma Lembke; Assistant Professor of Equity, Diversity and Justice in Education at University of Colorado, Boulder, Tiera Tanksley; and Outpatient Therapist, Skyler Blankenship. Together, they presented and discussed the risk factors and benefits of social media for young people. The session focused on strategies for fostering a more empowered, healthier relationship with digital technology and provided a nuanced view of both the perils and powers of social media use for youth.  

This session is designed for providers who work with youth, young adults and their families and viewers of this video can benefit from the following learning objectives: 

• Understand the positive and negative psychological impact of social media on youth and young adults
• Identify strategies mental health providers can use in supporting youth to reflect on their social media use, make meaning of it, and develop coping responses to harmful exposure 
• Learn about available tools and resources to support diversion and self-regulation in social media use
• Understand risk factors and impacts to specific populations of youth around social media harms 
• Support community efforts and advocate for improved monitoring and filtering of social media while supporting healthy social development