Rosa Li tries to use different ways to get an important point across to students in her Psychology 180 course on social media, technology, and the adolescent brain: “Research is really complicated. The real world is highly nuanced.”

That’s why Li, a teaching assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, felt compelled to respond to U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s call for warning labels on social media, writing an op-ed for Slate calling the comparison between the tobacco industry and the technology industry misleading.

“It’s a very complicated issue,” said Li, a member of the Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain and Psychological Development in Carolina. “I think technology and screens are so ingrained in our society that you can’t just slap a warning on it and be done with it.”

Li answered questions about what research tells us about children and social media and offered his own comparison to teen social media use.

Were you surprised when the Minister of Health made these comments?

No. First, he declared a state of emergency regarding youth mental health in general. Then he issued a nice health alert about social media and mental health that was scientifically balanced. I think it’s really good that he’s taking the issue and making it a national conversation.

In marketing his recommendation, it seemed as if he was trying to push for more formal regulation or legislation rather than just talking about it.

Why is the comparison between social media and smoking misleading?

Correlational studies examining time spent on social media and well-being seem to support what’s known as the Goldilocks hypothesis: a little bit of screen time or a little bit of social media use leads to the best outcomes, while too much can be harmful. These are just correlational studies, but in general I think there’s good evidence that it’s not like cigarettes — that a little bit can be OK and even beneficial.

People report a stronger sense of social connectedness. They feel like they have more support from their friends. There is also a lot of research that suggests that being able to connect with people online is particularly beneficial for people with marginalized identities.

Why did you say that food and healthy eating are a better comparison?

Many previous studies focused only on overall screen time – how much you consume. Now the field is shifting to what people do online and trying to take the nutritional aspect into account.

You can do many different things, both positive and negative. You can passively watch an endless number of TikToks, or maybe you get creative and make your own. When you post your own content, do you get positive feedback or do you get bullied? Does using social media get in the way of sleeping or doing homework, or can you use it at a convenient time?

How do you educate children and parents about what consumption is healthy?

Get the whole community on board. Pediatricians should start asking about your children’s screen habits. There is now a push to better educate children at the K-12 level. Just as there would be a health class, there would be a digital literacy class.

I think more education for parents is really important too. I recommend parents keep an eye on their children’s social media use in an age-appropriate way. That might mean using social media together at first and then as the children get older and more responsible, giving them more independence, but still asking questions and talking to them about what they see or do.