Think about the advice you have seen on TikTok or other social media platforms. How often do you find these tips — whether they are about health, relationships, skin care, fashion, fitness or anything else — helpful? How often do you question if they are based on fact? How much do you care about whether the people creating the content identify as experts, or at least have a background in what they’re talking about?
Are there instances in which an influencer’s credentials matter more than others? For example, do you think it matters if someone talking about depression or anxiety is a mental health professional? Or is it just as valid to be speaking from one’s lived experience?
Earlier this year, a group of researchers from the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University assembled a group of mental health influencers who collectively had an audience of 10 million followers. They attended lectures and received tool kits on mental health as part of an experiment to determine whether influencers could be persuaded to disseminate more evidence-based information on social media.
In “Harvard Cozies Up to #MentalHealth TikTok,” Ellen Barry explains the thinking behind the study:
The surgeon general has described the mental health of young people in America as “the defining public health crisis of our time.” For this vulnerable, hard-to-reach population, social media serves as a primary source of information. And so, for a few months this spring, the influencers became part of a field experiment, in which social scientists attempted to inject evidence-based content into their feeds.
“People are looking for information, and the things that they are watching are TikTok and Instagram and YouTube,” said Amanda Yarnell, senior director of the Chan School’s Center for Health Communication. “Who are the media gatekeepers in those areas? Those are these creators. So we were looking at, how do we map onto that new reality?”
The article continues:
Many academics take a dim view of mental health TikTok, viewing it as a Wild West of unscientific advice and overgeneralization. Social media, researchers have found, often undermines established medical guidelines, warning viewers off evidence-based treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy or antidepressants, while boosting interest in risky, untested approaches like semen retention.
TikTok, which has grappled with how to moderate such content, said recently that it would direct users searching for a range of conditions like depression or anxiety to information from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Cleveland Clinic.
At their worst, researchers said, social media feeds can serve as a dark echo chamber, barraging vulnerable young people with messages about self-harm or eating disorders.
“Your heart just sinks,” said Corey H. Basch, a professor of public health from William Paterson University who led a 2022 study analyzing 100 TikTok videos with the hashtag #mentalhealth.
“If you’re feeling low and you have a dismal outlook, and for some reason that’s what you are drawn to, you will go down this rabbit hole,” she said. “And you could just sit there for hours watching videos of people who just want to die.”
Ms. Basch doubted that content creators could prove to be useful partners for public health. “Influencers are in the business of making money for their content,” she said.
Ms. Yarnell does not share this opinion. A chemist who pivoted to journalism, she found TikTok “a rich and exciting place” for scientists. She views influencers — she prefers the more respectful term “creators” — not as click-hungry amateurs but as independent media companies, making careful choices about partnerships and, at times, being motivated by altruism.
In addition, she said, they are good at what they do. “They understand what their audience needs,” Ms. Yarnell said. “They’ve done a huge amount of storytelling that has allowed stigma to fall away. They have been a huge part of convincing people to talk about different mental health concerns. They are a perfect translation partner.”
Students, read the entire article and then tell us:
Have you encountered mental health information on TikTok or other social media platforms? If so, what has been your experience? Have you found the information and advice there helpful? Or have you ever found yourself down an unsettling, perhaps even dangerous, rabbit hole?
Do you ever struggle to separate good mental health advice from bad online? What would make you trust someone who is sharing mental health information on social media? What would make you not trust that person?
What is your reaction to Harvard’s experiment? Do you think attempting to “inject evidence-based content” into young people’s social media feeds is a good way to address the youth mental health crisis? Why or why not?
Did the scientists’ reasons for doing this work reflect your experiences with social media? Do you think that people more often look to influencers for information, instead of approaching professionals, like licensed therapists? Why do you think that is?
Do you think that if mental health experts began posting videos on TikTok, they would soon have large audiences? What would they need to do, or perhaps not do, to reach the people they want to help?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.
