Published Jun 12 2020

People You May Know: What Happens Next? podcast on social media and mental health

Every generation faces its own moral panic over new technology. Even right back to Socrates when the use of written text in books was seen as something that would negatively impact our lives. In the 20th century, wireless radio and television was thought or assumed to bring about the downfall of civilisation.

In this social media digital age, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Monash University Brady Robards focuses on the positive impacts social media brings to our lives. Whilst obviously there are negative impacts of social media, he is looking at ways young people are using these platforms as ways to help open communication and help deal with issues they face. Brady is currently working on a publication called Growing up on Facebook. Studying sustained or longitudinal social media use among people in their 20s who have grown up using social media. Gemma Sharp, a Clinical Psychologist and Monash researcher on the impact of social media on body image, is also using social media as a positive tool to help at-risk young people.

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About the Authors

  • Brady robards

    Associate Professor in Sociology

    Brady's research sits between the sociology of youth and a cultural sociology of digital media. He's interested in how young people use and thus produce digital social media, such as on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, and how social media come to serve as sites of identity-work and archival memory constituted through digital traces.

  • Gemma sharp

    Adjunct Associate Professor (Research), Department of Neuroscience

    Gemma established and has led the Body Image and Eating Disorders Research Program since 2018. She became a Professor (Level E) in 2024 at another university, and is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership 2 Fellow (2023-2028) and a former NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow (2018-2022). She holds a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology (University of Adelaide), Bachelor of Science honours degree in microbiology and immunology (University of Adelaide), a master’s degree in oncology (University of Cambridge), a diploma of languages in Japanese (University of Adelaide), a graduate diploma in psychology (University of Adelaide), a Bachelor of Behavioural Sciences honours degree in psychology (Flinders University) and a PhD in clinical psychology (Flinders University). Her research career in both medical science and mental health has seen her study and work in Australia, Japan and the UK. Gemma and the program she heads investigate the factors leading to body image concerns, eating and weight disorders (across the age and gender spectrum). and novel therapeutic interventions to address these concerns. In 2023-24, she led the development of a world-first free online educational resource to explain the intersection of eating disorders and menopause. She has a keen interest in intersection of eating disorders and women’s health, particularly pregnancy and perimenopause. Gemma is the founding director of the Consortium for Research in Eating Disorders (CoRe-ED) charity, which brings together all key voices in eating disorder research on a global scale to improve eating disorder research and care.

  • Susan carland

    Director, Bachelor of Global Studies, and Lecturer, School of Language, Literature, Cultures and Linguistics

    Susan's research and teaching specialties focus on gender, sociology, contemporary Australia, terrorism, and Islam in the modern world. Susan hosted the “Assumptions” series on ABC’s Radio National, and was named one of the 20 Most Influential Australian Female Voices in 2012 by The Age.

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