HARRISON — How are social media and substance use alike, and how can social media be used in substance use prevention work? That topic was explored at the 2025 Region 2 Prevention Conference held last Tuesday, July 29, at the Signature Tower, here.
One of the conference's featured speakers was Rikki Barton, founder and lead consultant of Onward Consulting. She is a certified substance use prevention specialist and has over 16 years of prevention field experience. She currently serves as a consultant to assist organizations, coalitions and state/federal agencies in the areas of substance use prevention, suicide prevention and mental health promotion.
She began her presentation by saying social media in and of itself is not bad. It allows us to be connected more now than ever before. Communication and information is at our fingertips. However, there are consequences.
The use of cell phones in particular puts undo strain on our bodies by promoting poor posture and on our eyes. Surfing the internet late into the night can deprive the body of needed sleep. Obesity and even diabetes are being linked to being continually connected to our devices. There are studies that suggest over use of these devices is causing areas of the brain that retain memories to shrink. Then, there is the issue of distraction when cell phones pull our attention away from what we are supposed to be doing.
Social media is addictive in nature as it can cause the release of dopamine, a chemical neurotransmitter in the brain, that plays a key role in motivation, pleasure, and motor control. We look forward to receiving electronic notifications. Oh, someone wants our attention! We look forward to it and before long start to crave it.
If we don't get any notifications... We go online and begin scrolling to find a game, app or other content that will achieve that dopamine release.
The teenaged brain is most susceptible, Barton said. "With our phones and devices we have a socially accepted form of addiction."
Barton looked at statistics showing that about 95% of teenagers have a social media account and that 40% of 8-12-year-olds have social media accounts.
Awareness is part of prevention. Monitoring time spent on devices can be eye-opening. Studies show youth spend an average of 3 1/2 hours a day on social media engagement.
Minors are susceptible to exposure to online exploitation even human trafficking, the second largest criminal enterprise after drugs, and sextortion. Online messages are targeting youth to use tobacco and other products.
Mental health is also connected. Youth can be exposed to bullying, hate based content causing anxiety, depression and the risk of causing harmful behaviors. Youth face two times the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, Barton said. The more time on social media the more likely a person will experience mental health symptoms.
Barton also touched on artificial intelligence (AI) and its negative impacts. Is the content, either an image or a text message, real or not real? "Deep fakes" have been released on the Internet in an attempt to extort individuals. The fakes are difficult to remove.
Prevention frameworks are being developed to protect children from social media misuse.
