Towards an understanding of social media: The effects on health, well-being, and genetic susceptibilities

In 2022, 63% of the world population actively used social media, spending a daily average of 2 hours and 27 minutes on these platforms.

Despite its widespread adoption, our understanding of social media's impact on health and well-being remains limited, mostly due to lack of data availability on social media use.

SOCIAL leverages several unique data sets and takes a comprehensive approach to investigate the effects and susceptibilities associated with social media use.

This knowledge is fundamental to design smart and effective regulations that promote promote individual well-being in an era of rapid digital evolution. This proposal introduces a novel perspective to social media research.

It aims to study the 2021 Facebook papers leak, the 2022 TikTok ban on government devices, Instagram's transition to an algorithmic feed in 2016, and the 2024 EU Digital Services Act, examining their impact on social media users.

Additionally, it investigates the genetic factors influencing social media usage patterns, utilizing molecular genetic data and a within-family design to explore whether genetic susceptibilities to mental disorders contribute to social media use patterns. This action, unfolding at Nova SBE in Portugal under Prof.

Pedro Pita Barros' guidance and Ctia Batista collaboration, addresses research questions, offers training and career development, and greatly enhances skills and fosters my career prospects.

By joining Nova SBE, I'll broaden my network, fortify capabilities, and leverage my expertise in health economics, econometrics, and social-science genetics to expand their research capacity.