Experts concerned about excessive social media usage among teen girls
Fox News' Gillian Turner on the detrimental impacts of social media usage for teenage girls' self-esteem and mental health
Social media has taken the digital world by storm — with millions of people interacting online daily.
For teen girls, however, the very strong presence of social media and all the interactions and information it brings can cause major mental health issues.
Fox News correspondent Gillian Turner appeared on "America’s Newsroom" on Wednesday to discuss one teen’s story about how her social media activities changed the trajectory of her college sports career. The segment is part of a series on mental health appearing on Fox News Channel all this week.
Aly Drake is a 19-year-old from Wisconsin who had plans to attend college and participate in the school's water-skiing program.
However, Drake was told by college coaches that she could no longer participate given that her online social media content was too negative.
Aly Drake, 19, a Wisconsin native, took to social media to discuss her bipolar diagnosis with other users — and her online activities ultimately cost her a spot on a college water-skiing team. (Fox News)
The teen, who was diagnosed as bipolar, had started posting online a few years ago about her mental health condition, hoping to connect with others online.
The award-winning water-skier was shocked to learn that she could no longer be on the team.
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"I was really surprised that just because of social media, [the coach] was willing to not have me on the team," she said of the decision to remove her from the roster.
Drake told Fox News that she turned to social media to connect with others.
Fox News research has found that most teens are spending an average of four hours a day on social media outside of school. (Fox News)
"I just wanted people to know that they weren’t the only ones feeling the way they do," she said.
Teens are spending an average of four hours a day on social media, outside of school, Fox News research has found.
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Of those four hours, roughly two hours are spent on TikTok and another hour-and-a-half are spent on Snapchat.
Although boys were found to be spending significant time online, girls are spending more time on sites with more sensitive content.
Of the hours spent on social media, girls are spending more time on social media content that is image-based. (Fox News)
For teenage girls, the app of choice is TikTok, with 73% of their online time spent on the app.
Instagram accounted for 69% of time spent and Snapchat 64% — all higher than the numbers for boys, according to the PEW Research Center.
"I just wanted people to know that they weren’t the only ones feeling the way they do."
Many people are worried that the screen time for girls is more detrimental to their mental health due to the type of content they’re viewing.
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Content consumed by a girl may be more body and image-focused, such as make-up tutorials — potentially harming their mental health.
Alexandra Rego of Fox News contributed reporting.
