Can we really blame social media? A research showdown.
Howtown
Aug 28, 2025 12:01
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This is a pilot episode of a new podcast-like format that we're calling "Howtown Showdown." In it, we flip a coin to take sides in a contentious scientific debate and look for the strongest evidence supporting our respective positions. For this first episode, we dive into the academic controversy sparked by Jonathan Haidt's best-selling book, The Anxious Generation, which argues that social media apps on smartphones are a major driver of declining mental-health outcomes among young people. The trends show rising anxiety, depression, and self-harm among teenagers in the United States and several other English-speaking countries. But does the evidence really show that social media is the problem?
Numbered sources and further reading: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AdAhgQtJ7dfzc7w1lEFSCqkF8Q6HXbum2scNvTJ4LR4/edit?usp=sharing
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