Why Social Media Harms?

My 17 year-old son, Alex Peiser, died by suicide in October 2017 after he was influenced by anonymous users online. Alex was a fun, sensitive kid who was active in Boy Scouts, theater, band and his church youth group. He had good grades in school. 

Age Appropriate Design Codes like those required by the proposed U.S. Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) of 2023 could have mitigated the risks to my son's mental health. 

It was, and still is, inconceivable to me that pro-suicide content, clearly against many platform's policies, remains online.

It is my greatest wish that the harms from social media and other internet platforms are mitigated to ensure safer online experiences for everyone.   This can only be accomplished if research documenting harms is evaluated alongside the research that documents the positive aspects of online services.  Federal and state regulations are also necessary to ensure that all online platforms used by children and teens  are designed with the safety of children and teens in mind.

My name is Sharon Winkler and I am the publisher and editor of Social Media Harms.  I am a member of the not-for-profit organization Fairplay, an organization that advocates for safer online platforms for children and teens.  I also work with Fairplay’s Screen Time Action Network and am a founding member of Parents for Safe Online Spaces.

Having some background in IT and IT research, in early 2021 it was a great surprise to find that there were few studies available online by United States researchers that documented externalities caused by social media use.  However, there were many studies that documented these externalities from researchers in other countries.

This imbalance was unusual and intriguing. 

Fortunately, the tide appears to be turning.  It is my greatest wish that the U.S. government enacts legislation that requires internet platforms and social media companies to share their data with vetted researchers and are required to participate in annual third-party risk assessment programs whose findings are made available to the public.

It is not my intent to make money from this website.  Social Media Harms does not have an online store, nor does it solicit donations.  I am always looking for peer-reviewed research studies that document the externalities created by social media or other online platform use.  If you have studies to share, please contact info@socialmediaharms.org.