Rutgers University has been selected as the home of a new state center that will study how social media affects young people’s mental and physical health, evaluate ways to reduce harmful use and develop educational resources for families and schools.

The New Jersey Social Media Research Center is part of a broader effort by Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration to strengthen online protections for young people. Rutgers was selected by the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE), in coordination with the New Jersey Department of Health, to lead the center, which is supported by a $500,000 grant.

The center will bring together researchers from across Rutgers and work with young people, state agencies, schools and community organizations to examine the relationship between social media use and young people’s health, including sleep and mental well-being.

“Social media is a major part of young people’s lives, but we still have important questions about how their online experiences affect their mental health and well-being,” said Jessica L. Hamilton, director of the center and an associate professor of psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-New Brunswick. “We need to look beyond screen time to understand what young people are experiencing online, why some are more vulnerable to harmful effects than others and which strategies can help reduce those risks.”

In August, Sherrill signed three bills  aimed at strengthening online protections for children. The legislation directed the establishment of a research center and called for research into whether warning labels and other disclaimers can reduce addictive social media behaviors.

“I promised in my campaign to take on Big Tech because it poses one of the greatest generational threats to our kids’ mental health and well-being. Today, we’re delivering on a major pillar of that promise in a new Social Media Research Center,” said Governor Sherrill. “Research has linked social media to depression and anxiety, fatigue and trouble sleeping, poor body image and disordered eating. This new center will be an invaluable tool to help us better understand how technology is affecting our children, and more importantly, turn research into real solutions to protect our kids, support our families, and address the ongoing youth mental health crisis.”

The center’s work will focus on three areas:

• Assessment: To better understand how social media affects young people’s mental and physical health.
• Intervention: To identify strategies for reducing harmful and addictive use, particularly among vulnerable young people.
• Prevention: To promote healthy and responsible online habits.

The researchers will develop online courses and training modules on safe social media use that will be available for free to New Jersey schools. Researchers also plan to offer educational resources to families and community organizations through a central website, along with workshops for parents, educators and health professionals.

The center will build on research already underway at Rutgers, including a 2025 NJ Social Media Impact Survey led by Jeffrey Lane, an associate professor of communication in the School of Communication and Information, and Amy Jordan,  a Distinguished Professor of journalism and media studies. The survey found that more than four in 10 New Jersey teens reported using social media at least four hours a day, with sleep, attention spans and physical activity among the leading concerns of parents and teens. The findings provided a roadmap for New Jersey’s Bell to Bell School Ban,  Lane will serve as a faculty co-director of the center.

The center plans to expand on that research by developing what researchers describe as the first state-level longitudinal dataset tracking how young people’s social media habits and experiences change over time and examining their relationship to health and well-being.

“We are honored that the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education has selected Rutgers to host the Social Media Research Center,” said Rutgers President William F. Tate IV. “By bringing together researchers from across our campuses and schools, including Rutgers Health, the center will turn the study of social media’s effects on young people into practical solutions for New Jersey families and communities. We are grateful to OSHE and the Department of Health for their confidence in our work and look forward to a partnership that serves the public good.”

The center’s leadership also includes co-director Vivien Lee, an associate professor in the School of Social Work whose research focuses on problematic technology use, behavioral addiction and interventions to reduce harmful online behaviors. Jordan also will serve on the center’s executive board, with Lia Nower, a Distinguished Professor in the School of Social Work and director of the Center for Gambling Studies, and Gregory Porembuscu, an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers-Newark.

“The state’s investment in this center creates an important opportunity to translate research into practical strategies that support healthier social media use,” said Anthony. “Our goal is to understand when and how social media use becomes problematic or addictive, identify strategies to reduce these patterns, and build a strong research foundation to rigorously test their effectiveness through experimental studies.”

New Jersey youth who have already partnered with Rutgers researchers will continue to help shape the center’s studies, educational resources and outreach. The center will use its research findings to develop recommendations for policymakers, families, educators and communities on promoting healthier social media use among young people.

“Our colleges and universities are home to world-class researchers and innovators who are tackling some of the most complex challenges of today. Rutgers University will put this expertise to work by playing a vital role in the State’s understanding of the impacts social media has on our young people,” said Margo Chaly, New Jersey’s secretary of higher education. “We look forward to their partnership and findings to address this issue that affects our communities.”