“Every single day I was on it, all day long. I just can’t be without it.” This was the testimony of Kaley, a 20-year-old woman who, on March 25, won a landmark $6 million California jury verdict against Meta and YouTube for the harms their platforms caused her.
As thousands of similar cases pile up in U.S. courts, Kaley’s experience underscores a critical need: We must reframe the debate through a lens that is sensitive to how adolescents grow and develop — and why teens experience social media design as uniquely challenging.
As researchers who study the everyday digital lives of teenagers, we regularly hear from young people about both the benefits and drawbacks of social media. Teens use platforms to learn new skills, build relationships and get help with homework. At the same time, they encounter hate speech, relationship drama and body shaming. Across the many ways teens engage online, one tension emerges again and again: overuse, and the constant pull of platforms on their time and attention. To read the full story.