Social Media and Adolescents, part 2: Helping Youth Thrive in a Technocentric World

Jan 17, 2025

Ron talks with researchers Nick Allen and Jacqueline Nesi about how developmental science could help us design social media and other technology to not only decrease risks, but also amplify new opportunities created by the digital world.

Guests:

• Max, a 17-year-old student from the San Francisco Bay Area
• Nick Allen, PhD, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oregon and the director of the Center for Digital Mental Health
• Jacqueline Nesi, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University and author of the popular weekly newsletter TechnoSapiens

Topics:

• What Max learned from his break from social media
• Three fundamental principles for evaluating social media
• How digital tech could be designed and used to promote health and wellbeing
• The main “yellow flags” of digital tech use by adolescents
• How tech could amplify benefits for young people who are struggling or facing other disadvantages