Takeaway
Clinicians can use recent headlines about social media as a timely opening to discuss digital habits with patients. Healthcare professionals can suggest practical limits and safety strategies.
Lifelong learning in clinical excellence | May 5, 2026 | 2 min read
By Jennifer Katzenstein, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Recent headlines holding social media companies liable for harm to young users has generated significant public and media attention. Regardless of one’s views on the legal outcome, it’s created a valuable opening to have more discussions about we utilize social media, one that we as providers shouldn’t miss. When families are already asking questions, our words carry more weight.
Why this moment matters
For years, many of us have been counseling adolescent patients and their caregivers about social media use, often with limited traction. Parents felt they were swimming upstream against peer norms and platform design. Teens felt their autonomy was being challenged. And we sometimes felt like we were delivering a message no one was quite ready to hear.
That landscape may be shifting. This is an opportunity to reinforce what many of us have long recommended, with the added tailwind of broader social awareness.
Practical approaches to the conversation
The core of what we encourage hasn’t changed, but the opening to broach the subject may be wider than before. Consider weaving the following into well visits and follow-up appointments with young patients and their families:
1. Normalize the conversation.
Mention social media in the same breath as sleep, diet, and physical activity. It’s a health behavior, and routine inquiry reduces stigma around discussing it.
2. Acknowledge the complexity.
Social media isn’t uniformly harmful. It provides connection, creative outlet, and community, particularly for adolescents who may feel marginalized or isolated. The goal isn’t elimination, but balance.
3. Use concrete limits.
Recommend no screens in the hour before bed, no devices in bedrooms overnight, and age-appropriate time boundaries.
4. Invite caregivers into the plan.
Sustainable limits are family efforts, not just individual ones. Encourage caregivers to model the behaviors they want to see, a principle that applies to us as well.
5. Have open conversations.
Ask young patients directly about their social media use, what platforms they use, how much time they spend, and how it makes them feel. Include a brief discussion on safety behaviors. Nonjudgmental curiosity invites honesty and builds the kind of trust that makes behavior change possible.
6. Follow up.
Like any behavioral change, social media habits take time and consistency to shift. Ask about it at the next visit. A habit takes at least six weeks of consistent effort to form, and our continued engagement matters.
The news has brought the question of social media’s impact on young people back into the public conversation. Our patients and their families are listening. This is a good time to be ready with a thoughtful, practical, and nonjudgmental response.
This piece expresses the views solely of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of any organization, including Johns Hopkins Medicine.