Correspondence- Non-Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

AMERICAN V AM PSY'CN^ OLOGICA Usm wow ASSOCIATION TMEM Now SERVICES,INC. p Such research also might address the role of social media algorithms on users' experience. This requires access to dataa for independent researchers to understand how algorithms work 4s Social media companies employing algorithms to display content to users should take steps to provide explanations on how these technologies work and how they might drive or reward certain lopes of posts or behavior. Dataa from algorithms, along with internal research,should also be made public to allow researchers and policymakers to achieve a greater understanding of the impacts of social media on users, particularly children. Federal agencies should prioritize research into the impacts of social media and provide private researchers with grants and other support to ensure findings relating to these platforms are made broadly available. There is much more Congress and federal agencies can do to provide education around how best to use online platforms to mitigate harmful impacts. A coalition of more than 150 organizations, led by APA, have called on the Surgeon General to create and distribute resources dedicated to teaching children and caregivers about online social media use 46. There is a clear need for an education campaign that enhances the public's understanding of the potential harms posed by social media and encourages caregivers and children to educate themselves with evidence-informed suggestions for its appropriate use. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge social media's potential to provide children with a healthy space for convening and companionship. While we recognize the need for additional research in this area, the very real harms of social media are impacting our children today, and more must be done to communicate and mitigate the impacts of online social media use. Educating young users and their caregivers about how best to use the platforms to mitigate negative impacts is an essential intervention that can start today. A public education campaign should include information about the specific dangers social media poses to adolescents, how parents and caregivers can best navigate learning 4s Epps-Darling,A.,Bouyer,R.T., & Cramer,H. (2020, October).Artist gender representation in music streaming. In Proceedings of the 21st International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference (Montreal, Canada) (ISMIR 2020).ISMIR(pp.248-254);Bravo,D.Y.,Jefferies,J.,Epps,A., &Hill,N. E. (2019).When things go viral:Youth's discrimination exposure in the world of social media. In Handbook of Children and Prejudice(pp. 269-287). Springer, ,0 i 00 7/9 78 :��„030� i 2228 7 i,5,. 46(2023).Apaservices.org.https:!lwww.apaservices.org/advocacy/news/surgeon-general-dangers-social-media 20 AMORG APASERVICES.ORG 750 Furst Street,NIIE 202.336.5800 Advocating for APA rrNerri ers ood tnychC7logy Washington,DC'20002-4242 202.336,6i123 TDD