Frequent social media use may alter teens’ brains LGBTQ youth use platforms as an escape or method to connect with others

By ZACHARY JARRELL

Before the pandemic, Will Larkins said they spent an “excessive” amount of time on social media. But when COVID-19 hit the U.S. – bringing American life to a screeching halt – Larkins saw their screen time reach new heights.

During quarantine, Larkins said, they would spend an average of 10 to 12 hours a day on social media – TikTok, specifically, would garner at least four to five hours of their time everyday.

Larkins particularly found solace in the online beauty community – garnering a sizable following, including high-profile YouTubers James Charles and Shane Dawson. In June 2020, Larkins’ social media use even made it to The New York Times, which included their take on the controversy surrounding Dawson and fellow YouTuber Jeffree Star. (The two were facing allegations of racism and sexualizing minors; Charles has also faced backlash, including for allegedly sending nude photographs to a 16-year-old boy and pressuring him into inappropriate conversations on Snapchat.)

“This pyramid system where Shane and Jeffree are kings and everyone else is below them is over,” Larkins is quoted saying in The Times article, adding that “the next generation of beauty influencers, it’s going to be about artistry and not just drama. People are realizing we need more representation of people of color, Asians and every minority. The beauty world is a place to express yourself. The younger generation understands that better than the older beauty gurus.”

Despite the drama, Larkins said that social media made them feel like they “could be this tough, beautiful, strong person that I didn’t feel like I was in reality.”

“[Social media] was more of an escape,” Larkins, now 18, told the Los Angeles Blade. “And because I didn’t have friends, I felt like these strangers online – these people I watched on YouTube and the people that communicated with, even just briefly – were my friends or part of my social circle.”

LGBTQ+ youth have long used social media as an escape or method to connect with other queer young people. A study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, for example, found that sexual minorities between 10 and 16 years old more often reported joining a group or web-based community to make themselves feel less alone compared to their heterosexual peers.

However, a recent study by researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill found that young teens who checked social media habitually – more than 15 times per day – become more sensitive to expected social feedback over time.

“In other words, these teens might become more attuned to social rewards and punishments,” Maria Teresa Maza, one of the study’s two lead authors, told the Blade. Researchers tracked 169 public middle school students in rural North Carolina over three years. At the beginning of the study, the participants were asked how often they checked three major social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat – with answers ranging from less than once to more than 20 times a day. Meanwhile, the students underwent yearly brain imaging sessions while completing the social incentive delay task, which measures brain activity when anticipating social feedback from peers.

Notably, the research – published in JAMA Pediatrics on January 3 – also found teens who do not check social media as often become less sensitive to social feedback over time.

“The findings suggest that children who grow up checking social media more often are becoming hypersensitive to feedback from their peers,” said Eva Telzer, a corresponding author of the study.

Maza, however, noted that the team of researchers was “unable to make causal claims about these findings.” She added, “While we found checking behaviors to be linked to brain development over time, we are unable to say that social media caused this change.”

Adolescents, which the study focused on, are at a “unique period” in their brain development, according to Maza. “Teens go through a lot of changes in their brains that help prepare them for the transition into adulthood. And one of these changes is that they start seeking out more social interactions, especially with their peers,” she said. “The interesting thing about social media platforms is that they allow teens to have constant access to social feedback whenever they want to, which can be very rewarding to teens.”

Though the study didn’t focus on LGBTQ youth in particular, young queer people – who use social media at higher rates than their cisgender, heterosexual peers – may be especially vulnerable. According to a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) blog post, LGBTQ youth spend an average of 45 minutes more a day online than their non-LGBTQ peers.

Many LGBTQ+ advocates and researchers say LGBTQ+ youth use social media at higher rates to find people like them. In fact, in a 2019 Center for the Study of Social Policy article, writer Rebecca Torrence said that without the internet, “I would still be struggling with my sexuality today.”

“Social media can be a powerful tool for finding safe, affirming spaces and connections online – particularly for LGBTQ+ youth who might not have affirming environments at home or school,” Dr. Myeshia Price, director of research science at The Trevor Project, told the Blade.

Maza agreed. “One of the benefits of this, particularly among youth who may identify in ways that differ from their in-person peers, is that they can have access to support and affirmative individuals or systems at the touch of their fingertips,” she said, adding that the “increase in support and affirmation has been shown to improve social and emotional outcomes of these teens.”

Considering The Trevor Project’s most recent research shows only 37% of LGBTQ+ youth identified their home as an affirming space and just over half said the same of their schools, Price said “it makes sense why LGBTQ youth may often turn to social media and online communities in order to seek out affirming and supportive connections and spaces.”

There is a flip side, however. Though online communities can be a source of affirmation for LGBTQ+ youth, they can also be a source of bullying and harassment. The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health found more queer young people reported social media having a positive impact on their mental health,

96%, than negative, 88%. Still, the overwhelming majority of LGBTQ+ youth see social media’s pitfalls.

Some say young teens shouldn’t have access to social media platforms at all. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last month that he thinks 13 – the minimum age to join major sites like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter – is too young.

“It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children,” Murthy told CNN.

Murthy continued to say that “if parents can band together and say, you know, as a group, we’re not going to allow our kids to use social media until 16 or 17 or 18 or whatever age they choose, that’s a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don’t get exposed to harm early.”

Mitch Prinstein, a co-author of the UNC-Chapel Hill study, agreed that “most adolescents begin using technology and social media at one of the most important periods for brain development during our lifetime.” However, he didn’t place the sole onus on parents, adding that policymakers must also understand “the benefits and potential harms associated with teen technology use.”

When asked what policymakers could do about this issue, Maza said she could not offer recommendations based on the recent study alone. However, as an expert researcher in the field, Maza noted how important it is to “engage in conversations with teens themselves to better understand their unique experiences online.”

“Given the highly self-selected and individualized nature of social media platforms, teens can engage in different behaviors and have distinct experiences online,” she said. “For this reason, it is important to include teens in conversation to better understand how they are spending their time online and how we can best support their healthy media use.”

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