In today’s day and age, technology has brought us to a place of amazing possibility. There are many benefits to the digital age. However, we are also seeing many challenges that significantly impact our health and well-being.

Suddenly, we live in a world where the majority of teens and adults walk around with powerful computers that have the capacity to communicate instantaneously with anyone virtually anywhere in the world. Those who have lived the transition of communication from handwritten letters, which could take a week to arrive, to text messaging; of research using hard copies and visits to the library, to instantaneous Google search; of composition from writing by hand to Google Drive; and of entertainment by watching television shows at prescribed times, to streaming any show or episode at will, are motivated to ask: What are the effects of these profound changes in digital technology on the development of human beings and society? How are young people being impacted by growing up in a digital world, and what does the future hold for them? Also, as many who have come before us have asked during times of profound technological change: Does technology improve our lives? What are the costs of this new and overwhelming technology to our individual lives and our society?^[1]

Although it is challenging, it is important that we assess the landscape and the available research in order to prevent or minimize the negative outcomes that can be a result of our digital world.

Why is digital wellness important?

Digital wellness involves the impact of digital technology on our mental/intellectual, physical, social, emotional and spiritual health and safety. The technologies that have transformed our daily lives also present some serious risk factors that can impact our health, safety, and wellness. There are issues with digital use that have an impact within each of the domains or areas of health, and these areas of health and wellness also influence one another. This can result in a domino effect, impacting multiple areas of our health.

Management of the use of technology is important to maintaining both safety and overall wellbeing within our digital world. Learning about what is behind the technology, becoming aware of our behaviors, and utilizing strategies is beneficial in protecting our overall health and wellness.

Surgeon General’s Advisory – Social Media and Youth Mental Health

The US Surgeon General’s Advisory calls attention to the growing concerns about the effects of social media on youth mental health. It explores and describes the current evidence on the positive and negative impacts of social media on children and adolescents, some of the primary areas for mental health and well-being concerns, and opportunities for additional research to help understand the full scope and scale of social media’s impact.

Social media use by youth is nearly universal. Up to 95% of youth ages 13–17 report using a social media platform, with more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly.”  Although age 13 is commonly the required minimum age used by social media platforms in the U.S., nearly 40% of children ages 8–12 use social media. Despite this widespread use among children and adolescents, robust independent safety analyses on the impact of social media on youth have not yet been conducted. There are increasing concerns among researchers, parents and caregivers, young people, healthcare experts, and others about the impact of social media on youth mental health. ^[2]

The Impact of Algorithms

It is important to realize that protecting our digital wellness is not solely dependent on willpower. The purpose of social media algorithms is to keep users engaged for extended amounts of time, providing users with personalized content based on their online behaviors. Keeping users engaged is a critical aspect, as the main goal is to have users buy products and services.

Most people are not aware of the way that algorithms can influence health and behaviors. The main goal of algorithms is to maintain engagement to sell more products or services. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a computer system that can learn and make decisions independently. It can do this by analyzing data and recognizing patterns or by using algorithms to make decisions. Algorithms are important for AI because they allow it to learn and improve its performance. Social media algorithms suggest content based on popularity biases. It assesses likes, comments, and shares and ranks content and will display content to users based on what has been engaged with the most. One problem with the way the algorithm works is that high engagement does not equate to high quality content. It actually amplifies low quality content, often including popularity biased content regardless of whether it is factual or fictional. These algorithms can be manipulated to make certain beliefs appear popular, spreading them far and wide. With the human tendency to follow the crowd, this leads to individuals believing something just because it appears popular.

The relationship between social media usage and body image has been well-established in research. Social media algorithms give personalized content that is often more extreme, designed to keep users engaged at length. Social media companies are aware of the harm posed by their implementation of algorithms, particularly for young, vulnerable users. Although researchers state that it should be the responsibility of the social media corporations to protect and enhance the well-being of their users, in our current culture, the user must be aware and take precautions. Awareness of the ways in which digital technology influences human beings is critical.^[3]

Major Benefits of Managing and Maintaining Digital Wellness:

· Protection of our health and wellness.

· Improved engagement and communication skills resulting in better relationships and quality of interactions.

· Improved productivity due to awareness, decreased distraction, and management of time.

· Prevention of problems that range from minor to detrimental issues involving safety and prevention.