Social Media Designers Awareness Training Program

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Table of Contents

Program
Evaluation
References

Program Title: Social Media Designers Awareness Training Program (SMDATP).

In the modern world, people use social media daily, as they have ubiquitous access to smartphones and other technical means. This communication channel provides people with extensive opportunities and can be useful in many ways. However, companies that create and sell social media platforms strive to attract more people and retain their attention. This position leads to creating algorithms to create a person’s attachment to social media. This factor can result in the emergence of issues with mental health, especially among young people. Thus, the presented program strives to raise the awareness of designers and platform managers about existing threats, as well as to promote the creation of algorithms that consider users’ mental health.

Program

SMDATP is an intervention program aimed at preventing social media harm to young people aged 16 to 18. Thus, the program’s main focus is working with platform designers and their managers. Individuals hired by social media companies as social media designers are eligible for the program. Key stakeholders in the intervention are social media designers, the social media management team, and educational facilitators.

The program is divided into two parts: a lecture and a workshop in which designers and managers will be informed about the dangers of social media for young people. The main focus is on discussing the potential adverse effects of targeted algorithm-based social media content production on young people’s mental health. The main goal of this program is to change the practices of designers and managers to form a more socially responsible attitude towards the existing problem. Ultimately, participants will be able to create applications and platforms that consider financial and social aspects. The program’s implementation is a 2-week intensive training program conducted within the organizational setting (refresher courses to be conducted annually). The program is administered through 2 stages: informational (Part 1) and interactive workshop (Part 2).

The first part of the program contains an informative lecture by educational facilitators. Participants include organizational psychologists, mental health researchers, and victims (young people) to provide quantitative and qualitative research findings and first-hand victim experiences of the potential harms of social media. For example, the lecture may contain qualitative feedback from real young victims affected by social media sharing their experiences. The subjective experience of Ruby, a 17-year-old girl, may be presented. She is concerned about the intrusive nature that social networking sites allowed “never being safe as bullies followed her home” (Singleton et al., 2016). Another example of Lizzie (aged 16) describing her experience: “it was sort of like it [self-harm] was an infectious disease because I knew they were doing it and… they felt better for it afterward… it was like ‘maybe I should do that” (Singleton et al., 2016). These examples of subjective experience within the framework of the program are intended to influence designers and managers to be involved in the change process.

The second part of the program is a tutorial-based workshop that requires social media designers to use their expertise to design their own alternate algorithms that can improve content production. It is intended to make them actively participate in the change process and place responsibility and power in their hands. Thus, the program is aimed at acquiring theoretical knowledge and putting it into practice. This structure allows us to make it potentially effective for implementation in the context of developing platforms and applications for actual users.

Although young people between the ages of 16 and 18 are the secondary focus of the program, it is not targeted directly at the victims of social media exposure. The choice of the focus of the intervention is due to the fact that now the creators of social networks are integrating algorithms that are a threat to the mental health of young people. The endless streams of content generated by the complex algorithms of the platforms pose a particular danger to young people. Berryman et al. (2017) note that “how individuals use social media is more critical than time spent online in regards to mental health” (p. 312). Thus, it is critically important to determine what features of social networks and patterns of user behavior are potentially harmful.

During the development of the program idea, a special focus was placed on identifying the reasons for the attachment of young people to social media. In particular, the theory of uses and gratifications (U&G) is a useful source of information on this issue. Burhan and Moradzadeh (2020) note that getting likes on various platforms stimulates the release of dopamine in users, which acts as a reward. Motivators for liking behavior are most often “enjoyment, information seeking, and social interaction, together with subjective norms” (Hossain et al., 2019, p. 10). However, this dopamine reaction is the reason for the dependence of young people on social media, as they are forced to return for a new portion of positive emotions. Moreover, Eginli and Tas (2018) mention that young people who predominantly use such platforms for communication are often deprived of the ability to establish interpersonal relationships. This aspect leads to the inability to develop important social skills and possible isolation.

Applying social comparison theory to an existing issue is also important. According to this perspective, people tend to compare themselves to others. Yang et al. (2018) note that comparison with other people can have both positive and negative effects on mental health in young people. In particular, competition-based comparisons can be distressing, while information-based comparisons can be a source of useful reflection. Hanna et al. (2017) emphasizes that social media is associated with “greater social comparison and greater self-objectification, which, in turn, was each related to lower self-esteem, poorer mental health, and greater body shame” (p. 1). Thus, these platforms can potentially cause distress and deterioration in mental health, as well as hinder the development of social skills in young people.

These aspects are especially important in the context of the social network algorithms that their designers and managers use. Social media applications often experiment with personalizing their platforms to attract and retain audiences (Swart, 2021). Thus, social media is often a significant factor in shaping the worldview of young people. At the same time, the creators of such platforms are focused on making revenue, which makes it profitable for them to attract more and more people and retain their attention (Peters & Brandom, 2021). Greater access to information through endless streams of content allows users to spend more time on the platform. At the same time, based on comparison theory, with greater exposure to materials, young people have more sources of comparison. However, the risk of negative or competition-based comparison is also increased, which elevates the likelihood of distress.

Currently, the problem of the emergence of mental problems among young people when using social media is widely discussed. This aspect forces the creators to take various measures to minimize possible harm. In particular, Facebook and Instagram allowed users to hide the number of likes under posts to reduce possible anxiety due to comparison and public opinion perception (Warren, 2021). Many platforms, including TikTok, Twitter, and Tumblr, use content warnings to protect users from traumatic or sensitive content (Vivas, 2020). These measures were in response to users’ reports of feelings of depression and stress due to lack of popularity among peers due to the low number of likes. Users need a space for free communication, where they are not limited by the social pressures expressed in the like count.

TikTok, among other things, made the most significant step towards minimizing the negative impact of the platform on users. The creators added tracking capabilities and screen time limits to the app, allowing users to control their use of the app (NEW! Screen time management, 2019). Facebook also recently released papers on its research on the impact of its apps on the mental health of young people (Peters & Brandom, 2021). However, they claim that their content and platforms are having an extremely positive impact and do not contribute to making the situation worse (Peters & Brandom, 2021). Additionally, the documents were published only after a wide public outcry and the beginning of hearings on this controversial topic. This shows how designers and managers are often reluctant to limit their users in order to support their health at the risk of losing profits.

Thus, the presented intervention program targets social media designers to create systematic change. The main difference between the program and existing initiatives is that they focus on young people themselves. However, this approach is not effective since platform developers adapt to user characteristics, responding to changes in their behavior patterns. The proposed program focuses on a desire-centered program by including educational facilitators and victims to target the primary drivers of this issue. Based on U&G theory, it aims at facilitating awareness of the negative biological, habitual, and, most importantly, mental health influences that social media platforms can induce. Moreover, the program has a long-term perspective on solving the problem rather than focusing on working with already affected individuals and groups. This factor potentially makes it effective not only at the present time but also for future generations. At the same time, the process of systematic change can be lengthy, which implies delayed and gradual results of the intervention.

At the same time, the program has a number of limitations, which constitutes an area for future improvements. First of all, there is currently no legislation that obliges participants to implement the strategies proposed within the program. Thus, the program is offered as an optional organizational practice for voluntary use. This factor can limit the effectiveness of the program, as many companies may refuse to implement it. Cost and benefit analysis conducted by organizations can be an additional criterion for choosing to use or reject the program. Currently, no assessment has been made of the impact of the program on platform and company revenues, which may hinder the adoption of the program. Finally, radical changes in company practices and user experience can force people to abandon certain platforms, which also jeopardizes the willingness of companies to utilize the proposed program.

Evaluation

The proposed program is rather long-term, which makes it difficult to assess the results of its implementation. First of all, it is necessary to organize the collection of feedback from program participants. Particular attention should be paid to the opinions of designers and managers who have completed both parts of the program. It is necessary to evaluate what knowledge they acquired during the lecture part. It is also important to understand how this information has changed their attitude towards the existing problem. In particular, one should analyze how the lecture helped to increase the awareness of designers and managers about the problem. Additionally, it is important to assess how important it is for them to address the issue through their own activities in the organization. Therefore, it is necessary to distribute a uniform questionnaire for collecting feedback among the participants after the end of the first part of the program. The questionnaire may include the following questions:

In your opinion, how does social media affect the mental health of young people?
Do application and platform algorithms have a negative impact on the mental health of young people?
Do you think that designers and managers can influence the algorithms that social media uses?
Do you think that nowadays, companies need to change their attitude towards creating social media? (end of questionnaire if the answer is negative)
Do you think you can personally influence the change?
What do big companies such as Facebook need to change to change the situation?
What initiatives or activities can be helpful in bringing about change?

Based on the responses received in the questionnaire, program organizers can judge what information the participants received and how it influenced their perception of the problem. The implementation of the first part of the program can be considered successful if 50% of the participants acknowledge the problem, note the need for changes, and also identify the possibility of personal contribution. In the case of a lower percentage, it is necessary to collect individual feedback from the participants as to why they think the presentation in the lecture is not convincing.

Evaluation of the results of the second part of the program is the need to discuss how potentially effective the solutions proposed in the workshop can be. In particular, program participants are specialists in the development and management of social media, which gives them the opportunity to analyze algorithms. After the workshop is over, participants should also be asked about the potential effectiveness of each of the proposed initiatives. The questionnaire may include the following questions:

Are there any potentially effective solutions among the solutions created within the workshop?
If yes, which ones?
Why do you find the mentioned solutions effective? Or Why do all the solutions seem ineffective to you?
Are you planning to apply any of the solutions developed during the workshop in practice?
What difficulties in the implementation of the proposed solutions can you identify?

In this case, the key is the fourth question, which is an indicator of the effectiveness of the program. If at least one of the participants responds positively and indicates a desire to use the solutions in practice, then the program can be considered successful. This result is due to the fact that the introduction of even one change already means a potential transformation, which is the purpose of the program.

References

Berryman, C., Ferguson, C. J., & Negy, C. (2017). Social media use and mental health among young adults. Psychiatr Q, 89(2), 307-314. Web.

Burhan, R., & Moradzadeh, J. (2020). Neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) and its role in the development of social media addiction. Journal of Neurology & Neurophysiology, 11(7), 1-2.

Eginli, A. T., & Tas, N. O. (2018). Interpersonal communication in social networking sites: An investigation in the framework of uses and gratification theory. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 8(2), 81-104.

Hanna, E., Ward, L. M., Seabrook, R. C., Jerald, M., Reed, L., Giaccardi, S., & Lippman, J. R. (2017). Contributions of social comparison and self-objectification in mediating associations between Facebook use and emergent adults’ psychological well-being. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 20(3), 172-179. Web.

Hossain, A., Kim, M., & Jahan, N. (2019). Can “liking” behavior lead to usage intention on Facebook? Uses and gratification theory perspective.Sustainability, 11(4), 1-13. Web.

NEW! Screen time management and restricted mode features on TikTok. (2019). Tik Tok. Web.

Peters, J., & Brandom, R. (2021). This is Facebook’s internal research on the mental health effects of Instagram. The Verge. Web.

Singleton, A., Abeles, P., & Smith, I. C. (2016). Online social networking and psychological experiences: The perceptions of young people with mental health difficulties. Computers in Human Behaviour, 61, 394-403. Web.

Swart, J. (2021). Experiencing algorithms: How young people understand, feel about, and engage with algorithmic news selection on social media. Social Media + Society, 7(2), Web.

Vivas, E. E. (2020). The importance of trigger warnings on social media. Voices of Gen-Z. Web.

Warren, T. (2021). You can now hide like counts on Instagram and Facebook. The Verge. Web.

Yang, C., Holden, S. M., Carter, M., & Webb, J. J. (2018). Social media social comparison and identity distress at the college transition: A dual-path model. Journal of Adolescence, 69, 92-102. Web.

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Program

Evaluation

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