With social media firms and impact under investigation for a variety of reasons, ranging from antitrust to fairness and truthfulness to social and psychological impact, it might be reasonable to expect a debate on whether social media only reflects existing behaviors; changes and shapes them; or some combination of “reflects but also creates.”
A new study of social media, for example, finds that social media does not have a causal effect on mental health. The study finds “the past two decades have seen only small and inconsistent changes in global well-being and mental health that are not suggestive of the idea that the adoption of Internet and mobile broadband is consistently linked to negative psychological outcomes.”
On the other hand, the study also says “the idea that the rapid and global penetration of the Internet and technologies enabled by it is affecting psychological well-being and mental health is compelling but not adequately tested.”
Still, the researchers said “our results do not provide evidence supporting the view that the Internet and technologies enabled by it, such as smartphones with Internet access, are actively promoting or harming either well-being or mental health globally.”
One might note similar studies conducted over many decades on the subject of media influence on behavior as well, and note that results have remained inconsistent and inconclusive.
We might tend to agree that mass media has a significant impact on our lives--both reflecting and shaping existing values-- but that it is a complex relationship with no clear and unambiguous answers, but with a rather strong suggestion that media does shape or change attitudes, and does not merely reflect attitudes.
Study Title | Conclusion | Date of Publication | Publishing Venue |
Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research (1982) by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw | Concludes that media effects are often subtle and indirect, but can still be significant. | 1982 | Sage |
Cultivation Theory (1976) by George Gerbner and Larry Gross | Concludes that heavy exposure to television can lead to a distorted view of reality, in which the world is seen as more violent and dangerous than it actually is. | 1976 | Journal of Broadcasting |
The Agenda-Setting Function of the Media (1965) by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw | Concludes that media can influence the public agenda by focusing attention on certain issues. | 1965 | Public Opinion Quarterly |
Framing Effects: Media, Public Opinion, and Public Policy (2004) by Robert Entman | Concludes that media can influence the way people think about issues by framing them in certain ways. | 2004 | Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |
The Spiral of Silence: Public Opinion and Our Private Fears (1986) by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann | Concludes that people are more likely to express their opinions in public if they believe that their views are widely shared. | 1986 | University of Chicago Press |
"Media and Values: A Reassessment" | "The evidence suggests that media do not have a strong or consistent impact on values. Instead, values are shaped by a variety of factors, including family, friends, and education." | 2009 | Journal of Communication |
"The Cultivation Hypothesis: A Critical Review" | "The cultivation hypothesis is a weak and inconsistent theory. There is no convincing evidence that media exposure leads to long-term changes in values." | 2011 | Mass Communication and Society |
"The Media-Values Relationship: A Meta-Analysis" | "The media-values relationship is complex and multifaceted. There is some evidence that media exposure can influence values, but the effects are small and often indirect." | 2014 | Psychological Bulletin |
"Media and Values: A New Look at an Old Issue" | "Media can play a role in shaping values, but the effects are complex and depend on a variety of factors, including the individual, the media content, and the social context." | 2017 | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |
"The Media's Impact on Values" | "Media can have a strong impact on values, especially for young people. Media exposure can lead to the adoption of new values and the rejection of old ones." | 2020 | Annual Review of Psychology |
"Media Effects: Advances, Tensions, and Future Directions" by Oliver & Oliver (2019) | The authors argue that media effects research has come a long way in recent years, but that there are still some important tensions between different perspectives on how media influence people. They also call for more research on the long-term effects of media exposure. | 2019 | Annual Review of Psychology |
"The Media's Influence on Society" by Potter (2014) | The author argues that media has a significant impact on society, but that this impact is complex and often indirect. He also argues that the media is not a monolithic entity, but rather a collection of different institutions with different agendas. | 2014 | Sage |
As a practical matter, industry executives can be expected to downplay their degree of causation, as that creates business risk in the form of regulation.
On the other hand, parents, governments and leaders have an equally vested interest in protecting society at large from any potential ill effects of media or social media, as difficult as that task might be.
Content regulation, educational efforts and parental controls or content moderation policies are common remedies. But they also bring dangers in the form of censorship, privacy concerns or limitations on media voices and views. If the traditional areas of concern in the media business have been pornography or violence, in the social media realms those issues are joined by concerns about “fake” content, bullying and mental well being.
Social media “solutions” are likely to be just as difficult as they have proven to be in the broader legacy media industries.
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