Beyond the Scroll: Reclaiming Social Media for Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Complete our brief Mental Health x Digital Marketing: Annual Impact Survey and download your digital gift. Please share!

Social media often gets blamed for everything that’s wrong with our mental health—but what if the problem isn’t the tool, but how we’re using it?

According to recent global data, over 50% of internet users go on social media to stay connected to friends and family, while 39% use it to fill spare time. The reasons are human—but the outcomes aren’t always healthy.

At Brand LA, we believe marketing—and the platforms we use to connect people—can play a role in healing. Especially during Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re asking: how can we use digital platforms for good?

We don’t have all the answers, but here’s where we start.

Why People Use Social Media—And What That Means for Mental Health

Recent 2024 data from Statista highlights the top reasons internet users worldwide engage with social media:

• 50.8% – Keeping in touch with friends and family

• 39% – Filling spare time

• 34.5% – Reading news stories

• 30.5% – Finding content (e.g., articles, videos)

• 27.3% – Finding products to purchase

• 19.5% – Avoiding missing out on things (FOMO)

This tells us that most users aren’t necessarily logging in to grow brands or become influencers—they’re looking for connection, entertainment, and information.

Yet those same patterns can create unspoken pressure:

• “Staying in touch” can lead to comparison

• “Filling time” can become overconsumption

• “Staying informed” can spiral into doomscrolling

As digital communicators, we must recognize both the power and responsibility embedded in the platforms we use.

The Double-Edged Feed

Studies confirm what many of us feel intuitively: social media’s effect on mental health depends on how it’s used.

A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that:

• 38% of U.S. teens believe social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age

• 32% said it has a mostly positive impact—thanks to connection, community, and support

A 2022 systematic review in JMIR Mental Health revealed that passive use of social media (like scrolling without engaging) is associated with depression, while active, purposeful use (such as messaging or creating content) can have neutral or even positive effects—especially for people already navigating mental health challenges.

In short: it’s not just the platform, it’s the purpose behind the use.

Marketing With Mental Health in Mind

At Brand LA, we view digital platforms not only as tools for communication, but as cultural infrastructure. Every post, visual, and caption can either reinforce pressure—or offer peace.

Our approach to digital marketing during Mental Health Awareness Month (and beyond) includes:

• Sharing stories that humanize, not just optimize

• Offering resources, not just content

• Using language that empowers, not pressures

• Creating clarity, not clutter

• Asking: Will this post improve someone’s day—even just a little?

Small Ways to Use Social Media for Good

You don’t need a big following or a content calendar to make a difference. Here are small, intentional ways to reclaim your feed:

• Follow creators that make you feel informed, inspired, or seen

• Curate your feed like a wellness toolkit, not a scoreboard

• Share resources, hotline numbers, or uplifting content

• Take breaks—and let others know it’s okay to do the same

• Normalize not being okay in your captions

• Post joy: your walk, your book, your quiet moment

• Comment with intention, not obligation

Even a single post can remind someone they’re not alone.

Brand LA’s Digital Call to Action

Social media is a mirror—and also a microphone. What we amplify matters.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s resist the urge to use platforms only for performance and instead ask:How can this tool support collective wellbeing?

At Brand LA, we’ll be continuing to explore this question—and we invite our community, clients, and partners to do the same.

Because mental health deserves more than awareness.It deserves access, action, and equity—even online.

Help Shape the Future: Take the Survey

We recently launched the Mental Health x Digital Marketing: Annual Impact Survey to better understand how creators, marketers, digital professionals, and enthusiasts experience the intersection of tech and wellness.

Complete the survey to download our curated collection of affirmations cards designed for the digital age. Survey closes May 27. Results will be published at brandla.org.

Sources

• Statista (2024). Most Popular Reasons for Using Social Media, Q3 2024.

• Pew Research Center (2023). Teens and Social Media.

• JMIR Mental Health (2022). Social Media Use and Mental Health: A Systematic Review.

• U.S. Surgeon General (2023). Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.