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Taking the me out of social media
1 September 2019
Student Emma becomes voice of national social media campaign after getting involved in research event for young people.
Student Emma Walker got a bit more than she bargained for when she volunteered to help with an event for schoolchildren about social media use and links with depression. She not only ended up involved in a national public health campaign but was also interviewed on national television.
Emma, who is currently undertaking a PhD with the Centre for Doctoral Training in Biosocial Research (Soc-B) at UCL, worked with ICLS Director Yvonne Kelly and three other UCL students to put on the event for 50 London schoolchildren in June, in which young people discussed their relationship with social media and issues around sleep, cyberbullying and body image.
The event was organised by ICLS and the National Literacy Trust and showcased important new research from the Centre showing that heavy social media use (more than 3 hours per day) was linked to depression in young people.
Following the hugely successful event, Emma, who got involved partly because she believed her own social media use was, at one point, too heavy and causing her some issues, was asked to write a blog for the Royal Society for Public Health #ScrollFreeSeptember campaign. She was subsequently interviewed by both the BBC and Sky.
Speaking about her experiences, Emma said:
"It has been quite a whirlwind - it was fantastic enough to have been involved in working with ICLS and the National Literacy Trust to put on such an important and exciting event for young people. But then to have been invited to write the blog for the RSPH campaign and be interviewed for national television, they were just amazing opportunities."
She added:
"When I read Yvonne Kelly's research on the links between heavy social media use and depression, it really struck a chord with me and I am just so pleased to be involved in sharing these important findings with the wider world."