About

This work adopts the “impact research” approach to create positive change in collaboration with community partners. Our collaboration among consumer behavior researchers, a mindfulness educator, and nonprofit stakeholders, addresses the mental health crisis caused by overconsumption of social media. Through qualitative interviews with our target audience of young Black women (YBW), we found that social media behaviors can lead to either positive or negative outcomes depending on user intention and awareness. Using thematic analysis, we identified insights resulting in six key themes. To those insights, we applied principles of mindfulness to create knowledge resources for YBW to navigate social media more skillfully, with awareness and intention, and help them achieve their online social media goals. We incorporated these tools into a social media mindfulness handbook that we published and distributed widely online to positively impact YBW towards a healthier relationship with social media (see link below).