The card game was developed by the Influencer Stories of Mental Health and Young People project team, led by Professor Ruth Page.
In the UK, one in five young people struggle with a mental health disorder. For many, the first place they turn to for help is social media. Sites like TikTok and Instagram host countless creators making videos with guidance on managing mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia. While many of these creators are qualified experts offering sound advice, many are not, spreading unsubstantiated and potentially harmful information. For young people with free access to this content, the ability to discern mental health fact from fiction is a crucial, yet underdeveloped, skill.
On 27 March 2026, young people, influencers, researchers, and artists came together on our Edgbaston Campus for the Mental Health Influencer Showcase, led by Professor Ruth Page. The event presented key findings of the ESRC-funded Influencer Stories of Mental Health and Young People research project, which sought to understand how stories told by social media influencers can help or harm young people as they respond to mental health challenges. It also marked the launch of the 'Scroll Smart' card game, developed to put those findings directly into the hands of young people.
‘Scroll Smart’ is a classroom game designed to educate young people on how they can discern the trustworthiness of mental health information they see on social media. Aimed at KS3/4 age groups, the cards present fictionalised mental health advice in a social media format, and students use context clues to determine whether they think the information is reliable. These clues include the influencer’s username, bio, and their follower numbers. With multiple variations in how the game can be played, it provides teachers with an invaluable resource for PSHE lessons.
Professor Page said of the game: “Scroll Smart was created by young people, for young people, to help them have critical conversations about the mental health content they see online. We hope the game, along with our free teaching resources, will support teachers as they deliver the new wellbeing online curriculum content.”
Alongside the ‘Scroll Smart’ launch, the event featured talks from representatives from the McPin Foundation, who explored their work in collecting mental health stories as part of the project. Creative artist Steve Camden also gave a talk on collaborative storytelling, and Mental Health Influencer Dr Ahmed Ezzat was interviewed by Arjuna Rao, a Y13 student from Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, Birmingham.
Throughout the two-year project, Professor Page and her team analysed 27,000 TikTok videos, 68,800 online comments, and conducted interviews with expert panels, mental health professionals and young people to understand how misinformation from mental health influencers online was putting young people at risk of harm. Their findings revealed that there is no verification process for creators who post mental health advice online. Creators can also push inaccurate information on the benefits of supplements and alternative therapies over professional mental health support, and the language used around mental health is often vague and confusing, particularly for young people.
They also found that the current approach to tackling this problem in schools is inadequate, as teachers were not well equipped to deal with the issue, given the fast-changing nature of online misinformation.
The project resulted in the following policy recommendations:
Reflecting on the project, Professor Page said: “Supporting young people’s mental health in relation to social media is complex. We all have a part to play, whether that is through education, having constructive conversations at home, promoting positive content online or learning to listen to other people’s stories.”
Professor of Applied Linguistics
Ruth's research focuses on the language that people use when they communicate in social media, with a focus on storytelling.
