Eva Ziegltrum

Brief description of my doctoral project

My PhD project explores how social media platforms can be designed and regulated to not only protect young people from risks, but also actively support their well-being and mental health. The project focuses on identifying which platform features, and digital affordances enable social media as age-appropriate, positive, and safe environments for adolescents. A central concept is age-appropriate design, acknowledging that young people have different cognitive, emotional, and social needs depending on their developmental stage. My dissertation combines four studies: a scoping review of current social media regulations, a narrative review on positive digital environments, an experience sampling intervention study, and an agent-based model simulating the long-term effects of different design and regulatory interventions on mental health and social well-being.