[Exploration] Helping or Hurting? The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health and Well-Being
with Dr. Tara Marshall
Presented on: Wednesday, November 26th 2025 at 7:00 PM EST
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Over five billion people use social media worldwide, yet social scientists have reached little consensus on how it influences mental health and well-being. In this talk, Dr. Tara Marshall will draw on the Active-Passive Model of Social Media Use to illustrate that the impact of social media depends less on the amount of time spent using it and more on the ways that it is used.
About our speaker:
Tara Marshall is the Director of the Social Psychology Program and an Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Aging & Society. She completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Toronto and went on to complete postdocs at the University of Tokyo and Western University before beginning her career in the Department of Psychology at Brunel University of London. She began working at McMaster in 2018. Currently, her research focuses on the intersecting influences of social media use, relationships, and culture on mental health and well-being.
The Exploration Series is generously sponsored by the MasterCard program provided by our affinity partner BMO
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