No stage of life is easy, but being a teen is hard in a very particular way. “Adolescence is a period of rapid cognitive, social and emotional development,” said researcher Amanda Lenhart, Health & Data lead at the Data & Society Research Institute in New York, at a conference this week, for example. “They’re a protected legal category. They don’t have the same power or ability to make … [Read more...] about Could platforms design for 2nd chances?: Insight from key study
Candice Odgers
Beyond ‘The Social Dilemma’ to social solutions
The Social Dilemma, now on Netflix, is a polemic, not a documentary. I mean, the Oxford English Dictionary says a documentary “provides a factual record or report,” and this film does not do that. There’s nothing wrong with a polemic, or a wakeup call. It’s perfectly reasonable to create a film with the intention to wake people up from using tech and media unthinkingly. It is wrong to represent … [Read more...] about Beyond ‘The Social Dilemma’ to social solutions
Screens kids use, Part 2: Research turning a corner
This subject – at this writing, about 3 weeks after I posted Part 1 – almost seems like that of a previous era, with all we’ve experienced since then (see this in The Atlantic from history professor Rebecca Spang). But we, societies around the world, will still be wrestling with this question of humans and screens in the pandemic’s aftermath, so I'm keeping going. Here’s Part 2, taking stock of … [Read more...] about Screens kids use, Part 2: Research turning a corner
Digital wellness: What is, & isn’t, parody
“Social media seriously harms your mental health” goes the message on the back of smartphones ironically held in the perfectly manicured hands of super models and other social media influencers, two of whom get “hundreds of thousands of likes on nearly every photo they post to Instagram,” the Verge reports. The message is on the back of a clear plastic phone case that has gone viral but not … [Read more...] about Digital wellness: What is, & isn’t, parody
Wellbeing, digital or analog: A paper, a podcast
Confused about all that you’re hearing about the impacts of digital media and tech on young people? A just-published paper should clear that confusion up, reports Scientific American. Drawing from data on more than 350,000 teens, the paper, “show[s] persuasively that…technology use has a nearly negligible effect on adolescent psychological well-being.” Its authors, Oxford University researchers … [Read more...] about Wellbeing, digital or analog: A paper, a podcast