An analysis of mental health of social media users using unsupervised approach

Do 21st-century skills make you less lonely? The relation between 21st-century skills, social media usage, and students' loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic

21st-century skills are a new category of competencies recommended for people to adapt to the digital era. Digital communication skills, particularly, are regarded as an important facet in a progressively moving online society. Empirical evidence of their actual value, however, is largely missing. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic offered an appropriate testing ground for the possible beneficial role that such skills might play. Our results show that digital communication skills correlate with loneliness. However, social media usage, online contacts, and offline contacts only partially mediate the relationship between digital communication skills and the loneliness levels of students. In addition, we found substantial differences between the two waves of data collection and the types of contacts that influenced loneliness. While skills may have reduced loneliness, the precise mechanism of this effect needs to be clarified more. We offer suggestions for future research to examine the potential benefits of 21st-century skills.

Identifying Depression-Related Behavior on Facebook—An Experimental Study

Depression is one of the major mental health problems in the world and the leading cause of disability worldwide. As people leave more and more digital traces in the online world, it becomes possible to detect depression-related behavior based on people’s online activities. We use a novel Facebook study to identify possible non-textual elements of depression-related behavior in a social media environment. This study focuses on the relationship between depression and the volume and composition of Facebook friendship networks and the volume and temporal variability of Facebook activities. We also tried to establish a link between depression and the interest categories of the participants. The significant predictors were partly different for cognitive-affective depression and somatic depression. Earlier studies found that depressed people have a smaller online social network. We found the same pattern in the case of cognitive-affective depression. We also found that they posted less in others’ timelines, but we did not find that they posted more in their own timeline. Our study was the first to use the Facebook ads interest data to predict depression. Those who were classified into the less interest category by Facebook had higher depression levels on both scales.

Human-Computer Interaction in Digital Mental Health

Human-computer interaction (HCI) has contributed to the design and development of some efficient, user-friendly, cost-effective, and adaptable digital mental health solutions. But HCI has not been well-combined into technological developments resulting in quality and safety concerns. Digital platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) have a good potential to improve prediction, identification, coordination, and treatment by mental health care and suicide prevention services. AI is driving web-based and smartphone apps; mostly it is used for self-help and guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety and depression. Interactive AI may help real-time screening and treatment in outdated, strained or lacking mental healthcare systems. The barriers for using AI in mental healthcare include accessibility, efficacy, reliability, usability, safety, security, ethics, suitable education and training, and socio-cultural adaptability. Apps, real-time machine learning algorithms, immersive technologies, and digital phenotyping are notable prospects. Generally, there is a need for faster and better human factors in combination with machine interaction and automation, higher levels of effectiveness evaluation and the application of blended, hybrid or stepped care in an adjunct approach. HCI modeling may assist in the design and development of usable applications, and to effectively recognize, acknowledge, and address the inequities of mental health care and suicide prevention and assist in the digital therapeutic alliance.