How much social media is too much?

School districts across the country have sued social media companies claiming they contribute to the decline of youth’s mental health.

The legal action started in January with Seattle Public Schools arguing that social media companies make their platforms addictive and that youth have uncontrollable anxiety, feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of suicide.

Then school districts in Washington, California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida also took legal action.

But it’s not all bad — social media does have some upsides, such as connecting people to specific communities and taking down geographic barriers.

So, how much social media is too much? When does it become a problem?

Join MPR News host Angela Davis for a conversation about digital well-being and what the research says about the good and bad of our screens.

Guests:

• Jude Mikal is a research scientist at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in the division of health policy and management. He has spent the past 15 years studying people’s use of social media and their health.

• Stevie Chancellor is an assistant professor in computer science and engineering at the University of Minnesota. She builds and evaluates artificial intelligence for mental health in social media to make it more accurate and meet peoples' needs.

• Danyelle Robinson is a student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. She’s also a youth council advisor for LiveMore ScreenLess and sits on the organization’s board.

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