Deadline: February 28, 2027 (earlier submission is encouraged)
Nearly 30 years ago, Robert Kraut and colleagues (1998) proposed that online communication decreases psychological well-being, and a decade ago, Morten Tromholt (2016) concluded that quitting Facebook leads to higher well-being.
In line with these statements, there is increasing public debate about the possible detrimental consequences of social media for individuals and societies, with particular concern about its effects on young people and other potentially vulnerable groups. Accordingly, many countries are in the process of implementing or have already implemented social media bans. For instance, since late 2025, Australia has required social media platforms to prevent usage by people under the age of 16. However, while some point to considerable harm caused by social media, the platforms’ sustained popularity and pronounced significance also suggest beneficial effects.
While the debate on social media regulation often focuses on a simplified dichotomy of “ban versus no-ban,” from an empirical research perspective, the topic is more complex:
Social media does not provide uniform exposure across all platforms and all users, young people are not a homogeneous population, and effective regulation can be more than a single intervention in the form of a ban. The consequences of social media use, and of its regulation, are likely to vary across platforms, individuals, contexts, and outcomes, whether mental health-related, political, or social. Consequently, broad claims about whether social media use or its regulation is “good” or “bad” are of limited scientific value.
The aim of this Special Issue is therefore not to advocate unconditionally for or against social media bans. Rather, it is to establish a more differentiated empirical basis for deciding which forms of regulation may be appropriate, for which platform, for whom, under which conditions, and with what intended, and unintended, consequences. Further, we aim to interrogate basic, often implicit, assumptions underlying regulation and to identify feasible procedures for evaluating policies.
This Special Issue – edited by Moritz Büchi (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) and Cornelia Sindermann (Charlotte Fresenius Hochschule – University of Psychology, University of Stuttgart) – invites empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions that clarify the conditions under which social media use and its regulation produce beneficial or harmful outcomes. Confirmed contributions include work by Sander van der Linden (University of Cambridge), Stephan Lewandowsky (University of Bristol), Christian Montag (University of Macao), and Jon D. Elhai (University of Toledo). We especially welcome work that:
- Provides integrative perspectives (empirical or theoretical) that can inform nuanced recommendations on social media use and regulation
- Provides novel empirical insights into the effects of social media use and (voluntary and involuntary) disengagement
- Examines for whom regulations may be beneficial or harmful, considering factors such as age, developmental stage, and vulnerable or marginalized group membership
- Provides insights into how those affected by different social media regulations perceive them, including individual differences and subgroup considerations
- Examines the empirical basis of assumptions underlying current or proposed regulations, such as presumed causal effects of social media use and regulation on different user groups
- Identifies empirically grounded outcomes against which regulations should be evaluated
- Advances the measurement of social media use beyond screen time to explain heterogeneity in previous findings
- Discusses, compares, or evaluates regulatory alternatives to social media bans, such as those related to platform design, algorithmic transparency requirements, digital literacy programs, or parental mediation
- Addresses practical questions of implementation, including age verification, enforcement, circumvention behaviors, and the privacy trade-offs that such policies may entail
Contributions may also consider multiple outcomes of (non-)regulation, which may include problematic use, mental health, life satisfaction, loneliness, sleep, social support, identity development, privacy, political participation, polarization, and exposure to harmful content. A policy that improves one outcome may lead to harm in other areas; we thus particularly welcome holistic perspectives and interdisciplinary approaches to digital well-being.
The relevant question is thus not simply whether social media should be regulated, but what should be regulated, for whom, to what degree, and in pursuit of which outcomes.
All manuscripts will undergo a rigorous, transparent, double‑blind peer‑review process, and reviewers are remunerated for their work, in line with the journal’s standard practice.
Deadline and Article Formats
The deadline for submission is February 28, 2027 (earlier submission is encouraged). Accepted papers will be published online and open access on a rolling basis. We accept research articles (up to 5,000 words for single-study papers; every additional study +2,500 words; excluding references), research reports (up to 2,000 words, excluding references), review/perspective papers (up to 10,000 words, excluding references), and methods papers (no length limit). The word limit may be extended upon request. You can find more information in the author guidelines.
Article Processing Charge
Upon publication, authors are required to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC). We are committed to inclusivity and accessibility in academic publishing. Recognizing the financial constraints that may limit participation from scholars in economically disadvantaged regions as well as regions experiencing large-scale cuts in funding, we are able to waive the APC for a selection of eligible papers. We encourage authors for whom this consideration is relevant to reach out to the editorial office at [email protected] before submitting their paper.
Contact Information
For questions or pre‑submission inquiries, please write to:
We look forward to receiving your cutting‑edge submissions.
Submission Instructions
Please submit your contribution via our submission portal.
