Meet the Teen Leading the Fight to Fix Social Media

Key takeaways

• Teens are stepping up to reshape social media. Gen Z activists are pushing platforms to reduce harm and take teen mental health seriously.
• This movement is youth-led. Groups like the Log Off Movement and Sustainable Media Center are helping young people turn concern about social media and mental health into action.
• Young advocates are focused on healthier design. Their work centers on improving how social media platforms are built and how they influence teen wellbeing.
• Adults still have a role to play. Parents, educators and communities can support youth voices and help build a healthier digital future.

When adults talk about teens and social media, the conversation usually centers on limits, warnings and what kids are doing wrong. Emma Lembke, a Gen Z activist working to make the digital world safer for young people, offers a different approach. Instead of telling teens to simply log off, she’s helping them step forward to question, redesign and take ownership of the systems shaping their lives.

That perspective grew out of her own experience coming of age online, one that’s shared by millions of young people. About 95 percent of U.S. teens use social media, and nearly half say they are online “almost constantly,” according to Pew Research. A growing body of research links heavy social media use with higher rates of anxiety, depression and poor body image.

For many teens, these platforms don’t just fill spare time, they shape daily life, relationships and self-worth.

Turning frustration into action

For Lembke, those realities weren’t abstract. As a high school student, she watched friends struggle with the pressures of constant comparison, online drama and algorithm-driven feeds. In response, she cofounded the Log Off Movement, a youth-led initiative challenging the grip social media has on her generation. What began as one teen’s frustration quickly grew into a global network of young people speaking up about the way digital platforms affect their mental health and sense of agency.

Years before she became a national voice on digital well-being, Lembke was already reaching out to adults working in the field. In 2020, as a high school sophomore, she contacted me to talk about her early advocacy work. When she logged onto our Zoom call from her car after school, I assumed she was a college student. She was 16. Even then, she spoke with the clarity and purpose of someone determined to change the systems shaping her generation’s lives.

“We were the guinea pig generation,” Lembke says. “No one was talking about the impact of social media on younger generations at first. We watched our friends get pulled in, and we saw how these systems could be used to spread misinformation and harm democracy.”

When she began speaking out, many adults dismissed those concerns. Today, simply acknowledging the problem feels like progress, she says. But recognition isn’t enough. Lembke believes her generation is ready to help design something better.

Now a college graduate, Lembke is continuing her mission as executive director of the Sustainable Media Center. Her focus has moved beyond awareness to action. The organization brings together teens, technologists, researchers and advocates in what she describes as an intergenerational community working to build a digital future that prioritizes human well-being over clicks and algorithms.

Moving from awareness to action

Rather than focusing only on what young people should avoid, the Sustainable Media Center emphasizes what they can build: new norms, new tools and new approaches that give young people meaningful influence over the media ecosystems shaping their lives. Members call themselves “actionists,” underscoring the group’s emphasis on practical change, not just awareness.

The nonprofit’s board includes hundreds of leaders across media, technology and academia, among them Jonathan Haidt and Frances Haugen. Lembke describes the group as a “convener of people with different ideas,” including those who believe technology can still be a force for good, if redesigned with safety, transparency and accountability in mind.

That diversity of viewpoints is intentional. “We don’t all agree on the solutions,” Lembke says, “but that tension leads to more meaningful conversations about what responsible technology could look like.”

So far, the Sustainable Media Center has kept its distance from major tech companies, citing what Lembke calls tech’s history of “empty promises.” Still, she leaves the door open to collaboration if companies demonstrate a genuine commitment to improving safety and accountability.

To help scale its work, the organization has partnered with Causeway, a platform that connects youth-led movements with mission-aligned funding. Causeway founder Doug Heske says the partnership reflects a broader urgency. “There is nothing more important than the truth right now,” Heske says.

Where adults fit in

For parents wondering where they fit into a youth-led movement, Lembke’s message is simple: Pay attention and make space. “Anyone can be an advocate,” she says. “This is a new frontier, and young people are excited to build something new.”

Heske agrees. “This will be the year of change,” he says. “We have a massive generation of young people who care and want to get involved and who have a universal desire to help.”

While so many efforts tell young people what not to do, Lembke is hopeful that the Sustainable Media Center will empower young people to act, including applying to be on the Sustainable Media Center’s NextGen Board.

“The time for action is today,” Lembke says. “2026 is going to be a monumental year.”

Want to get involved? Here’s where to start

You don’t have to be a tech expert or a teen to support a healthier digital future. Small, real-world steps matter.

• Talk with your kids about design, not just screen time. Ask what they notice about how apps keep them scrolling. Curiosity builds awareness faster than lectures.
• Support youth voices. Follow and share the work of youth-led groups like the Sustainable Media Center and the Log Off Movement so young advocates are part of the broader conversation.
• Look beyond limits to leadership. Encourage kids and teens to think about how technology should work, and where they might want to contribute, from media literacy to coding to policy.
• Model intentional tech habits at home. Family norms around parental screen use, devices at meals or sleep routines shape kids’ digital lives more than rules alone.
• Stay engaged locally. Schools, parent groups like Seattle Families for Intentional Tech, and community groups are increasingly talking about student tech use and mental health. Showing up helps ensure youth perspectives are included.