Think through your day: how much time do you spend on social media? After asking around thirty people from Lincoln about their screen time, the average time amounted to being between two and four hours per day, spent on various platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Social media has become a massive part of teen lives and is ingrained into daily lives as such. There are many ongoing debates happening over whether social media companies should be responsible for teen mental health. On one side, people argue that the platforms are designed to be addictive, prioritizing engagement over well-being. Others say that it is the parents’ responsibility to monitor social media use, and that social media provides essential connection, community, and support for teens. There are many opponents of the idea that social media companies should hold responsibility. Meta Platforms Inc, Alphabet Inc, and organizations such as NetChoice have argued that responsibility for mental health is multifaceted and does not rest solely on tech platforms. These tech platforms have also argued that there is no scientific consensus providing that social media causes mental health issues.

The aforementioned companies like Meta Platforms often argue that parents should manage their online activity according to their own rules and understanding of social media. Some common arguments are that parents can decide when a child is mature enough to own a device, and that every child is different, so the circumstances are different in each case. They have also pointed out the numerous help lines, resources, content limiting settings, and tools that allow parents to monitor and enforce these rules and strategies. In addition, critics of potential regulations cite the benefits of social media as providing positive community and connection with others who share hobbies, passions, identities, and interests; which have been proven by studies done by the National Institute of Health. They say there is an increased ability to form and maintain friendships, gain exposure to new ideas, and provide and receive support socially and mentally from others, which is all part of their argument that it should not be the companies responsibility for decreases in teen mental health On the other hand, people argue that because of social media’s inherent danger and harm to teenagers, social media companies should be held responsible. Common arguments for this include how the addictive design and algorithmic harm greatly contribute to the damage of mental health in teens, as well as corporate awareness to these damages. Statistics cited in The National Institute of Health report a “dopamine cycle” created in a loop of “desire” induced by endless social media feeds.

Many critics of social media and its influence say that platforms not only push out harmful content, with addicting algorithms, but also that they are not neutral tools. They say these kinds of apps, such as Instagram and Tik Tok, are “engineered products” that are designed to maximize profit in anyway possible, including taking advantage of the biological vulnerabilities of the adolescent brains, which include sensitivity to social rejection and imbalance in brain development, which is highly influenced by external information. So, the question is: should companies be held responsible for teen mental health? Is that something in their scope of responsibilities, or just an opinion from critics? It may be valuable to consider different sides of this argument to form an educated stance. However, in the end, each individual has their own take on a debated topic such as this one.