Social media exposes youth to alcohol and online substances through direct advertisements and promotion
There is a proven relationship between exposure to social media & substance use
Compared to youth who are not on social media, youth who are on social media daily are:
3 times as likely to use alcohol
5 times as likely to use tobacco (including by vaping)
2 times as likely to use marijuana
Young people are overwhelmed daily on social media with messages advertising, normalizing, and even glamorizing alcohol and substances — as are social media users of all ages.
By reducing messages that promote substances on youth’s social media, we can create a digital world to invest in youth and hold everyone accountable for the messages that spill over into the world.
our research
During 2022-2023, a coalition of ten young people conducted 246 social media intake surveys, and 175 survey responses met our age criteria. Youth leaders co-designed the survey and incorporated the following themes: social media use, substance advertising and promotion; mutuals, followers, and influencers influence; and user control. peer-to-peer outreach, and shared widely on online platforms. For the purpose of the study, we included Facebook, Instagram, X formerly known as Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and Discord. We identified substances as alcohol, tobacco/e-cigarette, marijuana/marijuana vaping, and fentanyl. We view advertisement and promotions as the following: directly from corporations, and indirectly from accounts they follow. We also define mutuals as accounts they follow and know personally and influencers as accounts they follow but don’t personally.
Instagram is the most used social media platform (29%), followed by TikTok (21%) and Youtube (17%). Majority (86%) of survey respondents are consuming content as opposed to creating content.
FINDING 1: Screen Break
With 61% of survey respondents spending 3+ hours on social media in a day, and 32% spending more than 5 hours on social media in a day, social media designers can promote more self-care break options for youth users. Even though 46% of survey respondents recall receiving take-a-break notifications, social media designers can add limits to how much content youth users can see by age. For example, youth can progressively have access to more content as they grow older.
FINDING 2: Age Gating
With 83% of survey respondents having received promotion of substances (alcohol being the top substance) on their social media feed, social media designers can automatically age gate 1) all alcohol ads for users under 21 in the U.S., 2) all alcohol-related pages and groups, even if unofficial, and 3) all sponsored content and paid posts advertising alcohol, even if ad transactions take place off of the Facebook platform. These may be identified by hashtags such as #ad and #sponsored.
FINDING 3: Holding Individual Accountable
An overwhelming majority (76%) saw their mutuals, followers, or friends posting substance use content. Even though 63% of survey respondents do not think they will be personally influenced by substances promoted by influencers, survey participants are more likely to think their friends and peers will be influenced. This interesting social norm can lead to disproportionately believe that they will not be influenced by substance use promotion, so social media designers and elected officials can hold individuals and influencers to the same standards as companies for promoting smoking/substances by creating consequences on their platform, such as a warning or being banned for a couple of days, etc.
FINDING 4: Educational Campaigns
With THE increased promotion of substances online, both organically through user engagement and advertisement, social media companies or elected officials can provide funding for public health counter-messaging and prevention campaigns. Additionally, a list of approved public health messengers can be created along with social media tools such as free or discounted advertising credits. With 54% of youth having seen anti-smoking ads, educational campaigns have the potential to mitigate the messaging happening online.
FINDING 5: Monetizing
Social media designers or elected officials can create a policy that limits individuals or influencers with a large youth following from making money off content that promotes substance use. This is needed to mitigate 77% of survey respondents who were able to recognize seeing people they don’t personally know, such as influencers and celebrities, post about substances (with alcohol being the most recognized substance promoted).
FINDING 6: Youth User Control
Currently, 85% of youth survey respondents feel they do not have much control over what is shown on their social media. Additionally, 82% would want control over what is shown, while 45.5% agree that parents should have control as well. Social media companies can provide more control to users, especially youth by providing more options for screen breaks, deciding on what content is shown and how much time they want to spend on social media.
Conclusions
In this new age of social media, youth are not given a seat at the table. HOPE is committed to increasing youth voice and participation in the design and implementation of social media. All youth deserve healthy online platforms where connection can be fostered.