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Mokita Dialogues Looks at Social Media and Mental Health

Molly Countermine leads talk on healthy use of social media
Posted on: May 21, 2020 - 12:35pm
Molly Countermine

Like all tools created by humans, technology can both help and hinder our lives. Social media in particular has been seen as both a blessing and a curse for those who engage with it. 

On May 28, the Jana Marie Foundation’s Mokita Dialogues will look at how we as a community can use social media in a healthy way, both for ourselves and for those with whom we interact online. The monthly discussion begins at 11 a.m. and will be held via Zoom at tinyurl.com/MokitaMay. Penn State associate professor Molly Countermine will lead the discussion.

During these unprecedented times, many around the globe who are staying at home to help stop the spread of COVID-19 have found the connections they can so easily have with family and friends through social media to be a balm to their feelings of loneliness, separation, and isolation. At the same time, research on the relationship between social media and mental health indicates that the social comparisons we make while scrolling on our smartphones and tablets is strongly associated with lower levels of well-being.

“While technology has certainly made dealing with staying at home during this global pandemic much easier, we should be mindful of the ways in which social media may also adversely affect our well-being,” says Countermine, an associate professor of human development and family studies in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development.

For more information about Mokita Dialogues and the Jana Marie Foundation, visit janamariefoundation.org and follow the Jana Marie Foundation on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and subscribe to the Jana Marie Foundation’s YouTube channel.