Social media use and its impact on adolescent mental health (2022)

>Results showed that most reviews interpreted the associations between social media use and mental health as ‘weak’ or ‘inconsistent,’ whereas a few qualified the same associations as ‘substantial’ and ‘deleterious.’

This mental health crisis started in the late 1990s and therefore blaming social media is a bad conclusion at best. If anything, social media is helping. We used to blame the 'internet' and 'violent video games' in the early 2000s.

I consider what's the actual problem? Fundamentally it's lack of in person social interaction.

In the 1970s for example, people went in person to the park, arcades, sporting field, or mall to hang out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallrats

But government came in and banned these things. Loitering and other laws were created to prevent in person social interaction. You go to a park and they have signs at every entrance banning every activity that you want to do.

So kids stayed home and played with their gaming consoles.

Humans are social beings though. You must have in person social interaction.

You can go further. Adults get their social interaction the 1970s from bars and smoke breaks. But government came in and reduced social interaction greatly there as well.