Rethinking Social Media in Youth Health Promotion: Navigating Ethics, Equity, and Algorithmic Risk

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Digital Health
• Adolescent Health

Background:

• Social media platforms are increasingly used for youth health behavior interventions.
• Commercial platform designs, data practices, and algorithms present ethical, legal, and equity concerns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how social media platform features introduce unintended risks for youth participants.
• To identify potential harms including surveillance, screen time issues, and digital exclusion.

Main Methods:

• Commentary examining platform features and their implications for youth.
• Analysis of data collection, engagement-driven features, and structural inequities.

Main Results:

• Risks include compromised privacy, informed consent issues, increased screen time, exposure to harmful content, and adverse psychosocial outcomes.
• Structural inequities in digital access and literacy can worsen health disparities.
• Platform-specific features amplify risks like social comparison, misinformation, and algorithmic bias.

Conclusions:

• Social media interventions for youth health show promise but require thorough platform environment evaluation.
• Future research must prioritize data practice transparency, psychosocial and equity outcomes, and safety safeguards.
• Safer and more equitable youth health promotion necessitates addressing platform-specific risks.