Revolutionizing Mental Health with Social Media
This chapter highlights how social media data may be harnessed to reason about human mental and psychological well-being and reflects on how this new line of research bears potential for informing the design of timely and tailored interventions.
Abstract
Social media platforms have emerged as rich repositories of information relating to people’s activities, emotions, and linguistic expression. This chapter highlights how these data may be harnessed to reason about human mental and psychological well-being. It also discusses the emergent role of social media in providing a platform of self-disclosure and support to distressed and vulnerable communities. It reflects on how this new line of research bears potential for informing the design of timely and tailored interventions, provisions for improved personal and societal well-being assessment, privacy and ethical considerations, and the challenges and opportunities of the increasing ubiquity of social media.