How to outsmart social media algorithms and protect your mental health
Each month of my teenage years, there was one day I looked forward to more than any other. And no, it wasn’t the final day of my period. It was the day when my magazines arrived in our mailbox. My beacons of wellness. Articles upon articles that told me how to get the body I want and, ultimately, be happy.
Patience was a virtue back then. I had to wait. And wait. And when my magazines finally arrived, I only had a limited number of pages to flip through, to cut out and organize neatly in a binder, to reference when I wanted to work on my abs. Then I had to wait again. For an entire month.
Now, we don’t have to wait. We don’t have to seek. We just open an app and the content is there, ready to convince us that whatever we’re currently doing isn’t enough. That we aren’t enough.
For better or for worse, social media isn’t going anywhere. Although it’s helped forge social connections, spread awareness of overlooked topics, and made us laugh when we just needed a mental break, it’s also the culprit of a new generation of body image issues.
What’s behind the content that’s fed to us? Algorithms—a word that has grasped the zeitgeist in the last decade or so, and one that humans are constantly trying to bypass to get to the content they really want.
In this post, I’ll discuss:
How social media algorithms work
The risks of social media algorithms for vulnerable populations
How to outsmart social media algorithms and cultivate a positive social media experience
What’s a social media algorithm?
An algorithm is a technology that analyzes users’ internet behavior and engagement to decide what type of content to show the user in their main feed. Metrics that help build an algorithm include engagement (likes, comments, shares), hashtags they may include in their own posts, and previous interactions with specific accounts.
Now, algorithms use artificial intelligence (AI) to further personalize content recommendations. The technology curates highly individualized content to keep users interested and interacting with their feeds.
Why do social media platforms use algorithms?
Social media platforms rely on algorithms to track user engagement and feed tailored content to users to keep them using the platform. They theorize that the more a user sees content that interests them, the longer they will stay on the platform, and possibly buy products they advertise.
The harm of social media algorithms
When we have no control over our digital environment, we have no say in the content we see. The moment we engage in content that might be harmful, the algorithm latches on, learning from this behavior and targeting us with similarly harmful content, like promoting disordered eating behaviors or self-harm.
We now know that the more time we spend on social media, the more likely we are to experience poor mental health, such as symptoms of depression. anxiety, and poor body image. For vulnerable users who already experience these symptoms, social media can exacerbate them.
Search intent detour
According to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), when adolescent YouTube users express interest in dieting and weight loss, 70% of the content pushed to them is considered '“harmful”—that is, videos that promote or glamorize disordered eating, depict weight-based bullying, and/or involve self-harm or suicide. (Click here for more findings from the study.)
Compare and despair
Social media provides unlimited opportunities for social comparison. The images we see on social media are often altered or edited, but younger minds can’t always differentiate between what’s real and what’s fake.
An analysis of 20 different studies cited social comparison as one of the contributing factors that connects social media use with body image issues and eating disorders. In a survey of young people conducted by Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 46% of adolescents said that social media makes them feel worse about themselves.
What about teen social media accounts?
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory stating that “social media presents a meaningful risk of harm to youth.” The Surgeon General’s office added recommendations for how to protect young people online, part of which included urging big tech companies to perform frequent audits of the impacts of social media and prioritize user health and safety when developing future products.
During two weeks in spring 2025, Accountable Tech experimented with five test accounts. The results revealed that Teen Account feeds still included sensitive content recommendations, sexual content, and body image and disordered eating content. Four out of five of the test account participants reported feeling “distressed” while using their Instagram Teen Account.
Clearly, social media platforms still have a lot of work to do. In the meantime, there are measures users can take to train their algorithms to show them content that is uplifting rather than soul-crushing.
How to outsmart social media algorithms
Technology is a formidable beast, one that can lead us in directions we didn’t intend to take. But what makes technology useful is our ability to train it. With knowledge and practice, we can mold technology in a way so that we can access the information we’re actually seeking, not the information technology wants to show us for (likely) insidious reasons.
Below, I offer some tips for weeding through the noise and re-establishing social media as a place for connection, inspiration, and support.
For people in recovery
If you’re in recovery from anything (not just eating disorders), here are a few ways to curate a pleasant social media experience.
Block, unfollow, or mute accounts that trigger harmful thoughts or behaviors. You can also report harmful accounts to administrators.
Follow recovery-focused accounts (like mine!) to shift the algorithm’s understanding of the content you want to see.
Set time limits for social media use to reduce the risk of mental health effects.
I use a great app called ScreenZen. I can configure settings that limit when I can open my social media apps and how much time I spend on them.
For parents
Parents of young people who are just broaching the subject of social media may find the following tips to be helpful.
Have open, honest conversations about social media. Ask your kids why they want to use social media, discuss the benefits and risks of using social media, and ask how they’re spending their time online.
Activate parental controls and privacy settings within each app to minimize the risk of exposing kids to harmful content.
Teach young users how to recognize harmful or inappropriate content. Remind them that if they see something that makes them feel uncomfortable, they can come to you for support.
For young people
If you’re a young person using social media, here are a few ways to interact responsibly and safely.
Create boundaries and healthy social media hygiene. Dedicate a certain amount of time to social media use and spend the rest of your day with friends, working on homework, or exploring other interests. Social media is meant to be a part of your life, not all of your life.
Be cautious about what you share and what content you choose to interact with. One wrong like, comment, or share can start a stream of negative content and might even get your account flagged.
Reach out for help if you need it. If you’re the victim of online bullying or harassment, speak to an adult or use the resources within the app. Social media is meant to be a place for connection, not suffering.
How to curate a positive social media experience
Social media is a mainstay in modern society. Apart from deleting all the apps and platforms, there aren’t many ways to avoid it. But we often forget that we have the power to dictate what content we’re shown, and this can make our experience with social media either invigorating or depleting.
Understanding how the algorithms work is the first step to curating a positive relationship with social media. Tools like keyword searches, hashtags, and interactions with the content you love will teach the algorithm to push similar content to your feed.
As technology continues to evolve and conform to the human experience, it’s our responsibility to stay informed of how to stay safe online and how to take action if we feel the algorithms are working against us.
Pause & Prompt
What do you use social media for?
How do you wish social media were different?
In what ways can social media improve?
More posts like this:
Social media algorithms: What they are, how they work, and how to cultivate a positive social media experience.