Mohid Khan
Bishop Guertin High SchoolClass of 2026Hollis, New Hampshire
About
Hello! My name is Mohid Khan, and my Polygence project is about understanding how adolescents use screens to deal with their mental health. As a teenager living in a very technologically savvy society, I want to figure out how my peers utilize social media, such as Reddit, to deal with the many stresses of high school and hope to find ways to help others do so. In the future, I would like to pursue a career in healthcare.Projects
- "How do teenagers use social media in navigating mental health issues?" with mentor Ian (Mar. 11, 2023)
Mohid's Symposium Presentation
Project Portfolio
How do teenagers use social media in navigating mental health issues?
Started Sept. 21, 2022
Abstract or project description
Considerable research exists examining the effect of social media on the mental health of its users. However, little research exists exploring how and why those people choose to use social media - especially in communities specifically oriented around mental health. This study employs the uses and gratifications theory to analyze the posts and comments in the /r/teenagers on Reddit related to a variety of tags such as mental health, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Posts and comments were filtered to have the highest upvote-to-downvote ratio and be posted in at least the last year. Results showed that many of the communities use social media to identify with others and give advice, while a small portion of people use them for simple entertainment and to escape their daily stresses. An even smaller minority of users utilize these communities to educate others.