Using Social Media to Reverse the Mental Health Crisis it Helped Create
As regular readers of The Times of Israel know, I have worked closely with the biggest content creator in the world (MrBeast) for several years and have spent the past three years studying the psychological and physiological impact of social media addiction. The thesis of my research and corresponding Focus Groups have given me hope that the platforms that are the causes of the current oncoming mental health crisis may paradoxically, be utilized to mitigate the deleterious fall-out caused by destructive content being disseminated by self-serving sources.
It will require a radical shift in how content is designed, consumed, and created.
For starters, I have outlined below – in a ‘problem, solution and action-item-type format’ – a solution-oriented framework summarized in five key points as follows:
- Shift From Performance to Presence
The Problem: Gen Z often feels pressured to perform a curated identity (the “brand of me”), leading to anxiety, comparison, and burnout.
The Solution: Promote content that rewards presence—not perfection.
Actions Items:
- Create and uplift “lowlight reels,” rest-day check-ins, and real-time honest emotions.
- Encourage posts that feel good to share.
Normalize imperfection, boredom, and emotional difficulties.
- Hack the Algorithm With Intention
The Problem: Feeds are optimized to trigger insecurity, fear, and outrage because that keeps people scrolling.
The Solution: Use intentional engagement to “teach” the algorithm what heals.
Actions:
- Follow accounts that focus on healing, therapy tools, body neutrality, neurodivergent education, and rest culture.
- Flood comment sections with affirmations, empathy, and grounded advice
- Create trend-hacking content that uses popular sounds to deliver grounded, countercultural truths
- Replace “Mental Health Aesthetics” With Real Resilience
The Problem: Self-care has been commodified – bath bombs, crystals, productivity planners -while deeper healing is ignored.
The Solution: Promote emotional tools, not vibes.
Actions Items:
- Share content that teaches how to regulate emotions, not just “you got this” mantras.
- Post real CBT, DBT, and mindfulness tools in digestible formats.
- Normalize going to therapy, journaling, failing, setting boundaries.
- Reclaim Social Media as a Teaching Tool
The Problem: Gen Z uses TikTok / YouTube more than Google for answers—but gets misinformation or aestheticized advice.
The Solution: Build creator-led micro-education ecosystems.
Action Items:
- Produce short-form series on topics like: “Why You Feel Numb,” “How to Break a Thought Spiral,” “Signs You’re Burned Out”
- Use storytelling, humor, and animation to make psychology engaging and accessible
- Collaborate with real therapists, psychologists, and Gen Z creators
- Turn Followers Into Support Systems
The Problem: Despite always being “connected,” Gen Z reports being the loneliest generation.
The Solution: Use social platforms to facilitate real belonging.
Action Items:
- Foster community-based content: “If you relate, comment your story”
- Start duets/chains of vulnerability: “I’ll go first”
- Host live Q&As, journaling circles, or digital support groups
The guiding principle of the framework that I am proposing is to make the internet feel like a friend—not a mirror. This should be the new north star for creators, educators, and platforms.
Mark Zuckerberg, if you want to be part of the solution rather than the problem, it may be worth taking heed of these ideas …
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Antony Gordon is a Fulbright Scholar and graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. Antony’s TEDx Talk achieved over one million views in record time. He is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal Best Selling Author and the host of the critically acclaimed podcast, The Antony Gordon Show. Antony research article (co-authored with Richard Horowitz) titled “Will Your Grandchild Be Jewish?” has been published in leading publications and translated into over ten languages. Antony has become one of the most sought-after speakers in the Jewish world for several leading organizations.
