Social media has become an omnipresent force in the modern world, with approximately 5.17 billion users worldwide and continuing to grow. One question we may ask ourselves is: how social media effects mental health, especially the mental health of the youth?

On Nov. 7, Frances Haugen, an engineer and data scientist who worked as a lead project manager on Facebook’s Civic Misinformation team, spoke at Salt Lake City Community College’s Speaker Series, Community Conversations. Haugen, along with a panel of experts, discussed the importance of being aware of the harmful effects that social media has on teen mental health and ways to mitigate the continuation of those effects.

“She made the courageous decision to blow the whistle on Facebook,” said Gregory Peterson, Ed.D., president of Salt Lake Community College.

Disenchanted by Facebook’s practices, Haugen left her position in 2021 and went public with insider knowledge, sharing her experience with the Wall Street Journal, 60 Minutes, the New York Times Daily Podcast, and even congress. Haugen has shed light on thousands of internal documents unveiling the damaging algorithms Facebook knew about.

The negative impacts of social media are not only affecting teens, but children as young as 6 years old. “Facebook knew they were harming kids,” Haugen said. “They knew kids were the source of profit.”

“When we look at an 8 year old using Instagram or we’ll get a 10 year old whose body is starting to change and beginning to gain weight and get new shapes, maybe they’re self-conscious about it, maybe they feel awkward. The algorithm picks it up and starts showing them content about the things that they’re most afraid of,” Haugen said.

Owning Instagram and WhatsApp, Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world. Over 66% of internet users have access to at least one of Facebook's platforms. Many of the algorithms have been shown to contribute to societal hatred and violence as well as political divide.

“I work with the government to pass regulations and guidelines that help incentivize better behavior, but I work primarily around transparency, national security, and getting context and how we build better products,” Haugen said.

“The state of Utah has done a lot of work to limit the impacts of social media on teens because of the detrimental effects on mental health. The state has done a lot to pass legislation to limit access for kids under a certain age. Some of our school districts are limiting access to phones in the classroom,” said Abby McNulty, vice president for Institutional Advancement at SLCC. 

McNulty assisted in determining what might be a relevant conversation for the community and worked hard to bring Haugen on board to discuss her knowledge and experience while working at Facebook. 

The panel included Aimee Winder Newton, senior advisor to Gov. Cox and director of the Utah Office of Families; DaSheek Akwenye, director of SLCC’s Center for Health & Counseling; and Dr. Diane Liu, pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.

“Some of our school districts, Jordan School District, for example is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against a social media platform to recoup the cost they’ve had to invest around teen and student mental health and well-being,” McNulty said. 

“The goal of the conversation was just for better understanding if you’re a parent, if you’re a community member, or if you care about, you know, if you have kids in your life you care about. What are the things to be thinking about when kids are using social media and have access to social media, what to look out for, what to be mindful of and then also to have a conversation about how our communities specifically are doing work to mitigate those impacts.”

Haugen unveiled part of the curtain that has covered how algorithms work and how every user’s experience is unique and personalized but there is still much work to be done. 

“We have a path forward, but that path requires us to work together,” Haugen said. “We are hoping to make a dent in this and see some action on the national level.”

“This community conversation is the first time we have hosted something like this at Salt Lake Community College,” McNulty said. “Our goal is to convene members of our community and neighbors and to have meaningful conversations…this spring we’ll bring in another speaker yet to be determined.”

The next Speaker Series event will take place in April.