Social Media Literacy

A large amount of empirical evidence shows that the use of social media can cause psychological distress, including harmful effects on users’ mood and body image. Despite the urgency of the problem, potential means to combat such effects are not well researched.

To address this gap in the literature, we investigate the effectiveness of improving users’ media literacy. We aim to increase users’ awareness and understanding of the functioning and business models of social media platforms. To do this, we are investigating the effects of two different types of interventions on users’ media literacy and ultimately on their mood and body image in an online experiment.

In addition, we would like to publish our results both in a scientific journal and as a non-technical policy report for the general public.

Members: Michael Achmann, Steliyana Doseva, Milena Engelke, Anna Kerkhof, Jan Schillmöller, Kian Schmalenbach