Social Media Use in Childhood and Adolescence: Minimizing Its Adverse Effects Through Corporate Social Responsibility and European Union Regulations

Abstract

The present chapter revisits the prevailing data business model of the social media industry and explains how it stands in conflict with psycho-developmental tasks in children and adolescents. In this realm, issues surrounding the current “APIcalypse” (based on the term application program interfaces (APIs); closed APIs hindering the study of social media use on the platforms) are discussed, along with the need to foster interdisciplinary research that brings together psychological, psychiatric, neuroscientific, and computer sciences to truly understand social media impacts on well-being and mental health. Given the billion users of social media around the globe, many of whom are minors, much is at stake, and it is urgent to address the numerous knowledge gaps surrounding the effects of social media use on mental health.