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Chapter 8 - Social (and Anti-social) Media

Are Universities in Competition with an Invisible ‘Virtual’ Curriculum?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2024

Jane Morris
Jane Morris
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen
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Summary

Digital technology is ubiquitous in university life. It became indispensable during COVID as a means of delivering teaching and also therapy. University websites and intranets can be valuable repositories of respected health information, signposting and self-help resources, but these need to be kept up to date. There is still a generation gap in terms of being ‘media savvy’ and older people have different experiences online. Society is waking up to the relentless commercial interests driving our online interactions and the psychological conditioning involved. Society needs to protect young brains in particular from exploitation and harm. Long periods spent online mimic psychiatric disorders, by interfering with concentration, causing sleep deprivation, dysregulation, obsessional checking behaviours, body image dysphoria and abnormal interpersonal relations. Unmonitored content and algorithmic amplifications increase distress. Rising rates of deliberate self harm and suicide rates appear to be associated with online experience. Legal and institutional regulation is unlikely to occur without grass roots campaigning. Schools and families usually provides some protection and online safety education. This needs to be reinforced and revisited during the transition to university. Clinicians and others concerned about mental health or wellbeing should explicitly ask questions such as ‘what’s going on for you online?’

Keywords

Student mental health social media harmsdigital technology harmsbrain onlineinternet addictiongaming addictionsuicide and social mediaUniversity mental health student suicidestudent drug usestudent social media mental healthonline therapyonline help seeking.
Type
Chapter
Information
Improving University Mental Health , pp. 106 - 122
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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