Can ❤️s change minds? How social media influences public opinion and news circulation

To maximize the benefits of social media while minimizing its harms, we need to better understand how it works and how it affects us. (Shutterstock)

Social media use has been shown to decrease mental health and well-being, and to increase levels of political polarization.

But social media also provides many benefits, including facilitating access to information, enabling connections with friends, serving as an outlet for expressing opinions and allowing news to be shared freely.