(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has joined a coalition that's calling for mental health warnings on social media.
More than 40 attorneys general, including Raoul, are endorsing a federal plan that requires a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms.
"From my understanding, they're looking to similar, to like alcohol warning labels and cigarette warning labels and TV show warning labels, having that available for social media," said Therapist Joey Trine with Thriveworks.
Trine says part of the correlation between excessive social media use and mental health issues has to do with the algorithm built into users' "For You Page" or "Timeline."
"What you are interacting with is what it will continue to show you, and if somebody is not educated or self aware of how that can impact them or what that message is telling them – they're feeding themselves images of unrealistic expectations and lifestyles and things that are not reality."
She says the warning labels can make users more aware of this.
"It's about identifying its risks and benefits so that we can use it in a constructive way."
The hope is to make users more aware of the risks associated with high social media use.
"It's not necessarily going to deter everyone and anyone, though there may be somebody who was unaware about some of that impact, or, like, how bad it is because they've never really thought about it, and now there's something there to let them know.”
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