Liddy Johnson, a high school sophomore, remembers getting her first cellphone and downloading social media. Her parents took precautions like setting limited screen time, but quickly, Johnson said, she found her way around those restrictions.
Gaining a following, Johnson posted videos and she said she started to crave validation from strangers as she continued to post.
“I thought that social media would make me happy, but it didn’t,” Johnson said in front of a Utah House committee on Wednesday. “The continuation of the use of social media eventually led to anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. My personality changed.”
Johnson said her story had a happy ending. She went to therapy and is now thriving as she pursues her interests in art and music. “But there are many teenagers out there that are struggling just like I did and don’t have the same resources I have.”
It was the start of an emotional hearing for Rep. Jordan Teuscher’s bill HB464 , the Social Media Act Amendments. Just one floor above, a Utah senate committee discussed Sen. Mike McKell’s companion bill SB194 . Together these bills are the amendments to Utah’s first of its kind social media law.