Facebook, UW School of Medicine and Public Health Team up on Social Media Research

Megan Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH
Megan Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH

A partnership between Facebook and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health will explore the relationship between teens’ use of digital technologies and their mental and social health.

The research is part of Facebook’s $1 million commitment to work with academics, experts and partners across the industry to further explore this topic. Dr. Megan Moreno, professor and head of the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team (SMAHRT) will lead the project at the School of Medicine and Public Health.

“The research will answer foundational and unanswered questions regarding youth, technology, and well-being and will provide guidelines for healthy family digital use,” said Moreno.

Objectives of the study include understanding the relationship between digital technology use and health and well-being of youth; understanding the role of parents in their children’s use of digital technology and well-being; assessing effects of interventions on health and wellbeing; and understanding real-time links between mood and social-media use behaviors.

The study will begin this fall.