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Comment and Health

Social media brings benefits as well as risks to young people

A recent US surgeon general’s report on social media use and youth mental health warns of a "profound risk of harm". But it also highlights the upsides, says Jennifer Abbasi

By Jennifer Abbasi

12 July 2023

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Simone Rotella

THERE is a scene in the 2020 documentary The Social Dilemma that has stayed with me. A tear rolls down a girl’s face as she appraises herself in the mirror, her sadness a result of harmful body image comparisons rife on social media. The dramatic recreation depicts just one of the potential harms highlighted in a recent US Surgeon General’s Advisory on social media use and youth mental health.

The advisory, a report “reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action”, summarises some of the “ample indicators” that social media can pose a “profound risk of harm to the mental…

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