As digitalisation accelerates, young people across the globe are increasingly using social media to navigate their identities, form relationships, and interact with their environments. Social media offers both opportunities and risks (Aagaard, 2018). It enables self-expression, community building, and greater access to information, while also exposing young users to distractions, cyberbullying, privacy concerns, and harmful content. Reflecting this dual nature, existing research—largely conducted in the Global North—shows mixed and mostly correlational evidence on the effects of social media use on young people’s cognition, mental health, and well-being (Appel et al., 2020).
Despite representing more than two-thirds of the global youth population, adolescents in the Global South remain underrepresented in research on social media use. Existing research often overlooks the distinct social, cultural, and economic contexts shaping young people’s digital experiences in these regions. Structural factors such as unequal internet access, lower digital literacy, and different cultural norms influence how youth interact with digital platforms.
Young people in the Global South also face additional challenges, including gender inequality, restricted access to the internet, and stigma surrounding mental health. These conditions shape how social media affects the material (having enough), subjective (feeling good), and relational (being connected) dimensions of their well-being. Without context-sensitive and participatory research, policies and interventions aimed at supporting adolescents’ digital well-being risk being ineffective or misaligned with their realities. To help address this gap, SMERU conducts a study to generate empirical evidence grounded in the Global South context, aiming to better understand how social media influences young people’s lives and well-being.
Through this study, we aim to contribute both conceptual and practical outputs. The research will help develop a clearer and more tangible concept of relational well-being that reflects the realities of youth in the Global South, while also producing a practical booklet to promote healthier social media use among adolescents. Throughout the project cycle, we will engage with the public and policymakers to share insights and encourage evidence-informed discussions and policies on youth and digital life.
This study aims to deepen our understanding of how digitalisation is changing the lives of young people today. In particular, it seeks to develop a more holistic perspective on how youth in the Global South experience social media use and how it relates to their well-being.
Specifically, the study has two main objectives:
- To understand the role of smartphones and social media in shaping young people’s relational well-being.
- To develop practical approaches that support young people in self-regulating their use of smartphones and social media.
This project will be conducted over three years and structured into four research phases.
- Scoping Review
This phase establishes a baseline by synthesizing existing evidence on the cognitive, affective, and sociocultural factors influencing social media use and self-regulation among youth in the Global South.
- Multi-Country Analysis
Through focus group discussions and surveys in Indonesia, South Africa, Vietnam, and India, this phase explores how social media use supports or hinders young people in achieving their personal goals and how surrounding factors shape their relational well-being.
- Diary Study
This phase captures real-time experiences through diary-based data collection in two contrasting locations. It examines daily patterns of social media use, self-regulation practices, and their specific impact on relational well-being.
- Module Development
In the final year, researchers and youth participants will collaborate through participatory design and game-based approaches to co-develop the “Consciously Connecting” module, which aims to promote healthier and more responsible social media use.
