Social media has become a part of everyday life and routine, especially for young Latinos. While social media can offer supportive communities and educational resources, it can also bring harmful impacts and habits. Nearly half of Latino parents are “extremely concerned” over the potential harmful impact that heavy social media use can have on their pre-teen children’s mental health, according to new data from the Brookings Institution. “The Latino community is particularly vulnerable to mental health challenges as a result of social media use,” according to Brookings report. Let’s dig deeper into what the data says and how it affects Latinos.
Young Latinos and Social Media
The Brookings Institution survey, led by the Omidyar Network, ...
35% of U.S. teens say they are using at least one of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook “almost constantly,” according to Pew Research Center. How does social media impact adolescent health? There are complex benefits and harms, according to a new report that tackles the effects of social media on children and adolescents’ physical and mental health, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). This is important for Latinos, 98% of whom own a smartphone and who are the highest-percentage users of Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and WhatsApp among racial/ethnic groups. “The use of social media—rather than having purely negative or positive impacts—is likely a constantly shifting calculus of the risky, the ...
Mental Health America (MHA) has published the Selfies, Social, & Screens: Navigating Virtual Spaces for Youth toolkit to help younger people’s technology habits. “Parents, caretakers, and household members act as the main influence on a child’s use of technology,” said Schroeder Stribling, President and CEO of Mental Health America. Let’s examine youth mental health, the helpful resources that this toolkit contains, and how you and others you know can benefit from it.
How Technology Use Impacts Mental Health
Virtual habits and activity can have a large impact on the mental health of young people. “Children and teens are dealing with the intense emotions of growing up in a digital age where much of their lives are spent online,” according to ...
Social media plays a large role in society today. People use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok and many other platforms as daily sources for education, entertainment, work, and more. However, can spending too much time on social media have a negative impact? Researchers have continuously studied how social media affects mental health. While the results are mixed, heavy use of social media can contribute to negative factors including cyberbullying, low self-esteem, and social isolation. This is important for Latinos, 98% of whom own a smartphone and who are the highest-percentage users of Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and WhatsApp among racial/ethnic groups. “Hispanics spent almost two more hours per week watching videos, streaming audio and social networking ...
Spreading the word about how to build a culture of health for Latinos is a dire need. That's why we at SaludToday are excited to be nominated as Best Health Advocate reaching Latino(a)s through Tech Innovation and Social Media by LATISM (Latinos in Social Media), a nonprofit group that aims to empower Latinos through tech innovation and social media, and Toyota. SaludToday is a national Latino health campaign and the social media handle for Dr. Amelie Ramirez's Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, including its national projects on Latino childhood obesity (Salud America!) and cancer prevention (Redes). SaludToday curates stories about peer models who’ve made healthy behavior changes, recent health news, useful resources, and ...
About 90% of U.S. teens go online daily and 32% of Latino teens go online "almost constantly," a higher rate that white teens (19%) and comparable to black teens (34%), according to a new Pew Research report. Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices. Overall, more than 70% of Latino, black, and white teens ages 13-17 have access to a smartphone, which has become a top driver of teen Internet, texting, and social media use. Patterns of social media use seem to be affected by socioeconomic status, as teens from lesser-income households (those earning less than $50,000) are more likely than others to say they use Facebook the most. Teens from high-higher households are somewhat more likely to visit Snapchat and Twitter more often than those from lesser-income ...
Hispanic moms are heavy users of social media and mobile technology, but there are differences in how they view themselves, according to a new poll, MediaPost reports. The poll, by BabyCenter (in English here or Spanish here), suggests that U.S. Hispanic women are a diverse group that can't be treated as a single market segment. The poll's key findings include: All Hispanic Moms are Not Alike—The poll shows four acculturation segments: complete acculturation (21%), high (40%), moderate (23%), and low (16%). Most completely-acculturated Hispanics view themselves as American, while most low-acculturated Hispanics view themselves as a Latino immigrant.
Hispanic Moms are Social—Moderate, high, and completely acculturated Hispanic moms are using the same social media as the ...
