#digital-wellbeing — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #digital-wellbeing, aggregated by home.social.
-
Gestern war der National Book Lovers' Day
Bücher haben eine wunderbare Eigenschaft: Sie warten.
Sie piepen nicht. Sie drängeln nicht. Sie wollen keine Aufmerksamkeit optimieren. Man kann sie weglegen, vergessen, Jahre später wieder aufschlagen – und manchmal steht da plötzlich etwas, das man früher komplett überlesen hat.
Nicht weil das Buch sich verändert hätte.
Sondern wir. -
Gestern war der National Book Lovers' Day
Bücher haben eine wunderbare Eigenschaft: Sie warten.
Sie piepen nicht. Sie drängeln nicht. Sie wollen keine Aufmerksamkeit optimieren. Man kann sie weglegen, vergessen, Jahre später wieder aufschlagen – und manchmal steht da plötzlich etwas, das man früher komplett überlesen hat.
Nicht weil das Buch sich verändert hätte.
Sondern wir. -
FACEBOOK IS TOXIC. META IS AWFUL.
WHY CONTINUE FEEDING IT? 💎Nearly everyone complains about Facebook and Meta.
The algorithms are toxic.
The advertising is invasive.
The outrage is manufactured.
CHILDREN ARE BEING HARMED.
Privacy is disappearing.
And then millions of people open Facebook or Instagram.
Again.
And again.
I genuinely do not understand it.
If you believe these companies are damaging children, manipulating attention, and making billions from human vulnerability, why are you still giving them your presence?
Especially the parents.
If Facebook and Instagram are unhealthy for your children, what exactly are you modeling by remaining there yourself?
“We know this place is harmful, darling, but Mummy and Daddy have photographs to look at.”
I left Meta years ago.
I didn’t die.
My friends did not evaporate.
Civilization continued.
There is email.
There are phones.
THERE IS THE OPEN WEB.
There is even the terrifying possibility of seeing another human being, god forbid, in person.
Meta survives because people who complain about it continue supplying exactly what it needs:
Their attention.
Their relationships.
Their outrage.
THEIR CHILDREN.
You do not have to wait for Zuckerberg to become a better person.
You can simply leave today.
The door swings both ways.
@DigitalCoup
@economics_that_works#Facebook #Meta #Instagram #SocialMedia #Algorithms #BigTech #DigitalWellbeing #OnlineSafety #ChildSafety #Privacy #AttentionEconomy #TechEthics #SocialMediaAddiction #Zuckerberg #DeleteFacebook
-
FACEBOOK IS TOXIC. META IS AWFUL.
WHY CONTINUE FEEDING IT? 💎Nearly everyone complains about Facebook and Meta.
The algorithms are toxic.
The advertising is invasive.
The outrage is manufactured.
CHILDREN ARE BEING HARMED.
Privacy is disappearing.
And then millions of people open Facebook or Instagram.
Again.
And again.
I genuinely do not understand it.
If you believe these companies are damaging children, manipulating attention, and making billions from human vulnerability, why are you still giving them your presence?
Especially the parents.
If Facebook and Instagram are unhealthy for your children, what exactly are you modeling by remaining there yourself?
“We know this place is harmful, darling, but Mummy and Daddy have photographs to look at.”
I left Meta years ago.
I didn’t die.
My friends did not evaporate.
Civilization continued.
There is email.
There are phones.
THERE IS THE OPEN WEB.
There is even the terrifying possibility of seeing another human being, god forbid, in person.
Meta survives because people who complain about it continue supplying exactly what it needs:
Their attention.
Their relationships.
Their outrage.
THEIR CHILDREN.
You do not have to wait for Zuckerberg to become a better person.
You can simply leave today.
The door swings both ways.
@DigitalCoup
@economics_that_works#Facebook #Meta #Instagram #SocialMedia #Algorithms #BigTech #DigitalWellbeing #OnlineSafety #ChildSafety #Privacy #AttentionEconomy #TechEthics #SocialMediaAddiction #Zuckerberg #DeleteFacebook
-
DATE: August 7, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Dark personality traits linked to problematic social media use via jealousy and cyberstalking
A recent study published in Current Psychology indicates that individuals with antagonistic personality traits tend to develop problematic social media habits driven by jealousy and a desire to monitor their romantic partners online. The research suggests that traits such as narcissism and psychopathy foster specific types of relationship insecurity. This insecurity can prompt individuals to engage in cyberstalking, which then escalates into broader patterns of social media addiction.
Problematic social media use involves a pattern of compulsive digital engagement that interferes with daily life and mental well-being. People struggling with this issue often use social platforms to regulate their mood and experience negative feelings when offline. They also tend to face interpersonal conflicts due to their excessive screen time. Past research points to personality as a major factor in how people interact with digital platforms.
The Dark Tetrad is a psychological framework that groups together four malevolent personality traits. Machiavellianism involves manipulativeness and the strategic exploitation of others. Psychopathy is characterized by impulsivity, a lack of empathy, and a constant search for stimulation. Narcissism centers on grandiosity, a sense of entitlement, and a desire for dominance. Sadism refers to the tendency to derive pleasure from inflicting suffering on others.
Marco Giancola, a researcher at the Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences at the University of L’Aquila, designed the present study along with his colleagues to explore the missing links between these traits and digital habits. “Previous research revealed that the Dark Tetrad, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism, is associated with problematic social media use and cyberstalking,” Giancola said. “However, we knew much less about the psychological processes that might link these traits to this pattern of problematic behavior.”
“We examined whether different forms of jealousy could help explain why individuals with higher levels of Dark Tetrad traits may engage in cyberstalking and, ultimately, develop more compulsive and unregulated patterns of social media use,” Giancola explained.
Jealousy is a complex emotion triggered by a perceived threat to a valued relationship. Psychologists divide jealousy into three distinct categories. Emotional jealousy involves reactive feelings like fear or sadness in response to a threat. Cognitive jealousy involves intrusive thoughts, suspicions, and anxiety about potential infidelity. Behavioral jealousy includes overt actions taken to monitor a partner and verify those suspicions.
To explore these psychological pathways, scientists surveyed 300 adults between the ages of 18 and 65. The sample had an average age of roughly 36 years and was predominantly female, making up 80 percent of the participants. All participants were currently in a romantic relationship and used at least one social media platform daily. The participants completed an online questionnaire between October 2024 and February 2025.
The survey included established psychological scales to measure the traits in question. A 12-item questionnaire assessed Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism, while a separate 10-item scale evaluated tendencies toward sadistic behavior. The researchers also assessed intimate partner cyberstalking using a 21-item scale, asking participants if they engaged in specific online surveillance tactics.
Another 15-item scale measured the three dimensions of jealousy regarding the participant’s current romantic partner. Finally, the researchers measured problematic social media use with a six-item assessment. This scale asked how often participants felt an urge to use social media, used it to forget personal problems, or tried to cut down their use without success. During their statistical analyses, the researchers controlled for the participants’ age, sex, and years of education.
The data indicated a sequential psychological chain of events linking dark personality traits to excessive social media use. Individuals scoring higher in Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, or sadism also reported higher levels of both cognitive and behavioral jealousy. These participants experienced more intrusive suspicions about their partners and engaged in more active monitoring behaviors.
These cognitive and behavioral forms of jealousy, in turn, predicted higher engagement in intimate partner cyberstalking. Cyberstalking then predicted higher overall scores for problematic social media use. The authors observed a sequential path where antagonistic personality traits foster specific jealousy-related thoughts and actions. These thoughts and actions encourage cyberstalking, which then fuels a compulsive pattern of social media engagement.
“The overall statistical models explained approximately 33% to 35% of the variance in problematic social media use, which suggests that the combination of personality, jealousy, cyberstalking, and the demographic variables included in the analysis was meaningfully related to the outcome,” Giancola told PsyPost. “However, these findings should not be interpreted as indicating that personality alone determines how someone uses social media.”
Interestingly, emotional jealousy did not act as a bridge between the Dark Tetrad and cyberstalking. “The most interesting finding was that cognitive and behavioral jealousy played a role in the pathway, whereas emotional jealousy did not,” Giancola said. “In other words, merely experiencing an emotional reaction to a potential relational threat did not appear to be the central mechanism.”
Instead, the proactive thoughts and controlling behaviors characteristic of cognitive and behavioral jealousy fueled the cyberstalking. “The relevant processes were persistent suspicions, intrusive thoughts about possible infidelity, and overt attempts to verify or monitor a partner’s behavior,” Giancola said. “This distinction suggests that what individuals think and do in response to jealousy may be more important for cyberstalking and problematic social media use than the emotional intensity of jealousy itself.”
Cyberstalking requires a massive investment of time and attention. Perpetrators spend hours scrutinizing shared posts, analyzing their partner’s online presence, and monitoring interactions. This obsessive engagement can easily shift from a goal-directed surveillance behavior to a generalized, compulsive pattern of social media use. The initial desire to reassert control over a romantic partner morphs into an inability to regulate one’s digital habits.
“One important takeaway is that problematic social media use may sometimes be driven by very specific interpersonal motives, rather than simply by entertainment, habit, or the desire to remain connected,” Giancola said. “For some individuals, repeated social media use may be reinforced by suspicions about a romantic partner and by attempts to monitor or control that partner’s online behavior.”
“Our findings suggest a possible sequence: darker personality tendencies are associated with more suspicious thoughts and jealousy-related monitoring behaviors, which are then associated with cyberstalking and higher levels of problematic social media use,” Giancola noted. “In practical terms, repeatedly checking a partner’s profiles, messages, followers, or interactions may provide temporary reassurance, but it can also reinforce insecurity, surveillance, and compulsive engagement with social media.”
Giancola pointed out that the same platform used for communication or entertainment can easily become a tool for reassurance-seeking and interpersonal control. “I believe the findings highlight the importance of considering the relational context of problematic social media use,” he said. “From a prevention perspective, interventions may benefit from addressing not only the amount of time people spend online, but also the motives underlying their use.”
“Psychoeducation concerning healthy relationship boundaries, uncertainty tolerance, emotional regulation, and respectful digital behavior may help reduce both intrusive monitoring and compulsive social media engagement,” Giancola added.
The cross-sectional design of the survey means the data only capture a single moment in time. The findings indicate an association between these variables but cannot establish a definitive cause-and-effect relationship.
“The most important caveat is that our study was cross-sectional,” Giancola said. “Although we tested a theoretically informed sequential mediation model, we cannot establish causality. The study examined associations between continuously distributed psychological characteristics in a non-clinical sample, not fixed categories of people or clinical diagnoses.”
Additionally, approximately 80 percent of the sample was female, which limits the ability to generalize the findings to men. “An important next step will be to replicate the findings using longitudinal designs in which personality, jealousy, cyberstalking, and problematic social media use are assessed at different points in time,” Giancola said. “This would allow us to examine whether suspicious thoughts and monitoring behaviors predict cyberstalking and subsequent difficulties in regulating social media use.”
Future research could also incorporate more diverse samples and investigate how specific platform features facilitate digital surveillance within romantic relationships. “It would also be useful to examine more balanced and culturally different samples and to investigate how specific features of social media platforms, such as activity indicators, location sharing, follower lists, and visible interactions, may facilitate digital surveillance within romantic relationships,” Giancola said.
The study, “The sequential mediating role of jealousy and cyberstalking in the relationship between the dark tetrad and problematic social media use,” was authored by Marco Giancola, Elisa Galli, and Massimiliano Palmiero.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DarkTetrad #JealousyCyberstalking #ProblematicSocialMediaUse #Narcissism #Psychopathy #Machiavellianism #RelationshipJealousy #CyberstalkingAwareness #DigitalWellbeing #SocialMediaAddiction
-
DATE: August 7, 2026 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Dark personality traits linked to problematic social media use via jealousy and cyberstalking
A recent study published in Current Psychology indicates that individuals with antagonistic personality traits tend to develop problematic social media habits driven by jealousy and a desire to monitor their romantic partners online. The research suggests that traits such as narcissism and psychopathy foster specific types of relationship insecurity. This insecurity can prompt individuals to engage in cyberstalking, which then escalates into broader patterns of social media addiction.
Problematic social media use involves a pattern of compulsive digital engagement that interferes with daily life and mental well-being. People struggling with this issue often use social platforms to regulate their mood and experience negative feelings when offline. They also tend to face interpersonal conflicts due to their excessive screen time. Past research points to personality as a major factor in how people interact with digital platforms.
The Dark Tetrad is a psychological framework that groups together four malevolent personality traits. Machiavellianism involves manipulativeness and the strategic exploitation of others. Psychopathy is characterized by impulsivity, a lack of empathy, and a constant search for stimulation. Narcissism centers on grandiosity, a sense of entitlement, and a desire for dominance. Sadism refers to the tendency to derive pleasure from inflicting suffering on others.
Marco Giancola, a researcher at the Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences at the University of L’Aquila, designed the present study along with his colleagues to explore the missing links between these traits and digital habits. “Previous research revealed that the Dark Tetrad, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism, is associated with problematic social media use and cyberstalking,” Giancola said. “However, we knew much less about the psychological processes that might link these traits to this pattern of problematic behavior.”
“We examined whether different forms of jealousy could help explain why individuals with higher levels of Dark Tetrad traits may engage in cyberstalking and, ultimately, develop more compulsive and unregulated patterns of social media use,” Giancola explained.
Jealousy is a complex emotion triggered by a perceived threat to a valued relationship. Psychologists divide jealousy into three distinct categories. Emotional jealousy involves reactive feelings like fear or sadness in response to a threat. Cognitive jealousy involves intrusive thoughts, suspicions, and anxiety about potential infidelity. Behavioral jealousy includes overt actions taken to monitor a partner and verify those suspicions.
To explore these psychological pathways, scientists surveyed 300 adults between the ages of 18 and 65. The sample had an average age of roughly 36 years and was predominantly female, making up 80 percent of the participants. All participants were currently in a romantic relationship and used at least one social media platform daily. The participants completed an online questionnaire between October 2024 and February 2025.
The survey included established psychological scales to measure the traits in question. A 12-item questionnaire assessed Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism, while a separate 10-item scale evaluated tendencies toward sadistic behavior. The researchers also assessed intimate partner cyberstalking using a 21-item scale, asking participants if they engaged in specific online surveillance tactics.
Another 15-item scale measured the three dimensions of jealousy regarding the participant’s current romantic partner. Finally, the researchers measured problematic social media use with a six-item assessment. This scale asked how often participants felt an urge to use social media, used it to forget personal problems, or tried to cut down their use without success. During their statistical analyses, the researchers controlled for the participants’ age, sex, and years of education.
The data indicated a sequential psychological chain of events linking dark personality traits to excessive social media use. Individuals scoring higher in Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, or sadism also reported higher levels of both cognitive and behavioral jealousy. These participants experienced more intrusive suspicions about their partners and engaged in more active monitoring behaviors.
These cognitive and behavioral forms of jealousy, in turn, predicted higher engagement in intimate partner cyberstalking. Cyberstalking then predicted higher overall scores for problematic social media use. The authors observed a sequential path where antagonistic personality traits foster specific jealousy-related thoughts and actions. These thoughts and actions encourage cyberstalking, which then fuels a compulsive pattern of social media engagement.
“The overall statistical models explained approximately 33% to 35% of the variance in problematic social media use, which suggests that the combination of personality, jealousy, cyberstalking, and the demographic variables included in the analysis was meaningfully related to the outcome,” Giancola told PsyPost. “However, these findings should not be interpreted as indicating that personality alone determines how someone uses social media.”
Interestingly, emotional jealousy did not act as a bridge between the Dark Tetrad and cyberstalking. “The most interesting finding was that cognitive and behavioral jealousy played a role in the pathway, whereas emotional jealousy did not,” Giancola said. “In other words, merely experiencing an emotional reaction to a potential relational threat did not appear to be the central mechanism.”
Instead, the proactive thoughts and controlling behaviors characteristic of cognitive and behavioral jealousy fueled the cyberstalking. “The relevant processes were persistent suspicions, intrusive thoughts about possible infidelity, and overt attempts to verify or monitor a partner’s behavior,” Giancola said. “This distinction suggests that what individuals think and do in response to jealousy may be more important for cyberstalking and problematic social media use than the emotional intensity of jealousy itself.”
Cyberstalking requires a massive investment of time and attention. Perpetrators spend hours scrutinizing shared posts, analyzing their partner’s online presence, and monitoring interactions. This obsessive engagement can easily shift from a goal-directed surveillance behavior to a generalized, compulsive pattern of social media use. The initial desire to reassert control over a romantic partner morphs into an inability to regulate one’s digital habits.
“One important takeaway is that problematic social media use may sometimes be driven by very specific interpersonal motives, rather than simply by entertainment, habit, or the desire to remain connected,” Giancola said. “For some individuals, repeated social media use may be reinforced by suspicions about a romantic partner and by attempts to monitor or control that partner’s online behavior.”
“Our findings suggest a possible sequence: darker personality tendencies are associated with more suspicious thoughts and jealousy-related monitoring behaviors, which are then associated with cyberstalking and higher levels of problematic social media use,” Giancola noted. “In practical terms, repeatedly checking a partner’s profiles, messages, followers, or interactions may provide temporary reassurance, but it can also reinforce insecurity, surveillance, and compulsive engagement with social media.”
Giancola pointed out that the same platform used for communication or entertainment can easily become a tool for reassurance-seeking and interpersonal control. “I believe the findings highlight the importance of considering the relational context of problematic social media use,” he said. “From a prevention perspective, interventions may benefit from addressing not only the amount of time people spend online, but also the motives underlying their use.”
“Psychoeducation concerning healthy relationship boundaries, uncertainty tolerance, emotional regulation, and respectful digital behavior may help reduce both intrusive monitoring and compulsive social media engagement,” Giancola added.
The cross-sectional design of the survey means the data only capture a single moment in time. The findings indicate an association between these variables but cannot establish a definitive cause-and-effect relationship.
“The most important caveat is that our study was cross-sectional,” Giancola said. “Although we tested a theoretically informed sequential mediation model, we cannot establish causality. The study examined associations between continuously distributed psychological characteristics in a non-clinical sample, not fixed categories of people or clinical diagnoses.”
Additionally, approximately 80 percent of the sample was female, which limits the ability to generalize the findings to men. “An important next step will be to replicate the findings using longitudinal designs in which personality, jealousy, cyberstalking, and problematic social media use are assessed at different points in time,” Giancola said. “This would allow us to examine whether suspicious thoughts and monitoring behaviors predict cyberstalking and subsequent difficulties in regulating social media use.”
Future research could also incorporate more diverse samples and investigate how specific platform features facilitate digital surveillance within romantic relationships. “It would also be useful to examine more balanced and culturally different samples and to investigate how specific features of social media platforms, such as activity indicators, location sharing, follower lists, and visible interactions, may facilitate digital surveillance within romantic relationships,” Giancola said.
The study, “The sequential mediating role of jealousy and cyberstalking in the relationship between the dark tetrad and problematic social media use,” was authored by Marco Giancola, Elisa Galli, and Massimiliano Palmiero.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DarkTetrad #JealousyCyberstalking #ProblematicSocialMediaUse #Narcissism #Psychopathy #Machiavellianism #RelationshipJealousy #CyberstalkingAwareness #DigitalWellbeing #SocialMediaAddiction
-
DATE: August 6, 2026 at 01:25PM
SOURCE: Association of Health Care Journalists: MENTAL HEALTHTITLE: Beyond ‘too much screen time’: Another way to frame stories about youth mental health
URL: https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2026/08/beyond-too-much-screen-time-youth-mental-health/
Headlines about youth mental health follow a familiar pattern: Teen anxiety is rising. Depression is increasing. Suicide rates have climbed. Then comes the inevitable question: Is social media to blame?
But perhaps journalists — and policymakers, clinicians, and parents — may be asking the wrong question, according to authors of a March 2026 op-ed in JAMA Pediatrics. Rather than focusing on screen time itself, a health story to consider is the business model driving today’s digital platforms, which some experts describe as “attention fracking“: a system designed to maximize user engagement by treating human attention as a commodity to be extracted and sold.
Whether reporters embrace that specific terminology or not, this concept offers an important reminder about how we frame stories involving children, technology and mental health.
Some coverage reduces a complex public health issue to a debate over individual behavior: How many hours should children spend on their phones? Should parents ban social media? Should schools prohibit smartphones?
Those questions matter, but they can also obscure larger structural forces.
The underlying problem
Smartphones and social media are not inherently the problem, researchers wrote. Instead, the authors contend that many platforms are intentionally designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible because engagement drives advertising revenue. Algorithms, recommendation systems, infinite scrolling, autoplay and other engagement features deserve as much scrutiny as total hours spent online. That shift in framing opens up richer reporting opportunities.
Instead of asking whether screen time causes anxiety, ask what kinds of digital experiences children are having. Which platform features are associated with compulsive use? What evidence exists about algorithmic amplification, personalized recommendations or design features intended to prolong engagement? How do researchers distinguish between passive scrolling, active social interaction, educational use and creative activities?
These questions also help avoid one of the biggest pitfalls in covering this beat: overstating causation.
Research on youth mental health and digital media remains complex. While studies consistently show associations between heavy social media use and poorer mental health outcomes, proving direct causation has been far more difficult. That uncertainty makes it especially important to distinguish between evidence from observational studies, randomized trials and opinion pieces.
The JAMA Pediatrics article is an op-ed, not original research. While it should be presented as an argument from two experts rather than new scientific evidence, I think it serves as a reminder that technology stories are often health policy stories.
Story angles
The authors compare today’s debates over digital platforms with earlier public health battles involving tobacco and environmental regulation, arguing that solutions may require greater transparency, independent research and government oversight rather than relying solely on parents to manage children’s screen use. They also call for more research into specific platform design features and greater accountability for technology companies.
That perspective suggests additional reporting angles beyond the usual parent-versus-teen narrative. Reporters can examine how companies test engagement features, what internal research has shown about youth users, how state and federal policymakers are approaching regulation, and what schools and communities are doing to create healthier digital environments.
This framing also reminds journalists to be cautious about placing responsibility entirely on families.
Parents certainly make decisions about children’s media use, but stories that focus exclusively on parental choices can imply that youth mental health is simply a matter of better discipline or stricter screen limits.
Key Takeaway
Public health reporting is strongest when it examines both individual behaviors and the systems that shape them.
As the conversation around youth mental health continues to evolve, journalists have an opportunity to move beyond simplistic debates about “too much screen time.” The more useful question may be one that public health reporters ask in many other contexts: Who benefits from the status quo, and how does the system itself influence health?
That question may ultimately produce stories that are not only more nuanced but also more useful to readers trying to understand why so many young people are struggling.
Additional resources
•American Psychological Association
•
•American Academy of Pediatrics
•
•Screen Time Action Network
•
•National Alliance on Mental Illness
•
•American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
•
The post Beyond ‘too much screen time’: Another way to frame stories about youth mental health appeared first on Association of Health Care Journalists.
URL: https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2026/08/beyond-too-much-screen-time-youth-mental-health/
-------------------------------------------------
Learn more at https://healthjournalism.org/topic/mental-health/ .
This robot is NOT affiliated with Association of Health Care Journalists and merely rebroadcasts from their site. Responses posted here are not monitored.
-------------------------------------------------
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #YouthMentalHealth #DigitalWellbeing #ScreenTimeDebate #AttentionFracking #AlgorithmTransparency #PlatformDesign #PublicHealthReporting #TechPolicy #YouthMediaLit #HealthJournalism
-
DATE: August 6, 2026 at 01:25PM
SOURCE: Association of Health Care Journalists: MENTAL HEALTHTITLE: Beyond ‘too much screen time’: Another way to frame stories about youth mental health
URL: https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2026/08/beyond-too-much-screen-time-youth-mental-health/
Headlines about youth mental health follow a familiar pattern: Teen anxiety is rising. Depression is increasing. Suicide rates have climbed. Then comes the inevitable question: Is social media to blame?
But perhaps journalists — and policymakers, clinicians, and parents — may be asking the wrong question, according to authors of a March 2026 op-ed in JAMA Pediatrics. Rather than focusing on screen time itself, a health story to consider is the business model driving today’s digital platforms, which some experts describe as “attention fracking“: a system designed to maximize user engagement by treating human attention as a commodity to be extracted and sold.
Whether reporters embrace that specific terminology or not, this concept offers an important reminder about how we frame stories involving children, technology and mental health.
Some coverage reduces a complex public health issue to a debate over individual behavior: How many hours should children spend on their phones? Should parents ban social media? Should schools prohibit smartphones?
Those questions matter, but they can also obscure larger structural forces.
The underlying problem
Smartphones and social media are not inherently the problem, researchers wrote. Instead, the authors contend that many platforms are intentionally designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible because engagement drives advertising revenue. Algorithms, recommendation systems, infinite scrolling, autoplay and other engagement features deserve as much scrutiny as total hours spent online. That shift in framing opens up richer reporting opportunities.
Instead of asking whether screen time causes anxiety, ask what kinds of digital experiences children are having. Which platform features are associated with compulsive use? What evidence exists about algorithmic amplification, personalized recommendations or design features intended to prolong engagement? How do researchers distinguish between passive scrolling, active social interaction, educational use and creative activities?
These questions also help avoid one of the biggest pitfalls in covering this beat: overstating causation.
Research on youth mental health and digital media remains complex. While studies consistently show associations between heavy social media use and poorer mental health outcomes, proving direct causation has been far more difficult. That uncertainty makes it especially important to distinguish between evidence from observational studies, randomized trials and opinion pieces.
The JAMA Pediatrics article is an op-ed, not original research. While it should be presented as an argument from two experts rather than new scientific evidence, I think it serves as a reminder that technology stories are often health policy stories.
Story angles
The authors compare today’s debates over digital platforms with earlier public health battles involving tobacco and environmental regulation, arguing that solutions may require greater transparency, independent research and government oversight rather than relying solely on parents to manage children’s screen use. They also call for more research into specific platform design features and greater accountability for technology companies.
That perspective suggests additional reporting angles beyond the usual parent-versus-teen narrative. Reporters can examine how companies test engagement features, what internal research has shown about youth users, how state and federal policymakers are approaching regulation, and what schools and communities are doing to create healthier digital environments.
This framing also reminds journalists to be cautious about placing responsibility entirely on families.
Parents certainly make decisions about children’s media use, but stories that focus exclusively on parental choices can imply that youth mental health is simply a matter of better discipline or stricter screen limits.
Key Takeaway
Public health reporting is strongest when it examines both individual behaviors and the systems that shape them.
As the conversation around youth mental health continues to evolve, journalists have an opportunity to move beyond simplistic debates about “too much screen time.” The more useful question may be one that public health reporters ask in many other contexts: Who benefits from the status quo, and how does the system itself influence health?
That question may ultimately produce stories that are not only more nuanced but also more useful to readers trying to understand why so many young people are struggling.
Additional resources
•American Psychological Association
•
•American Academy of Pediatrics
•
•Screen Time Action Network
•
•National Alliance on Mental Illness
•
•American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
•
The post Beyond ‘too much screen time’: Another way to frame stories about youth mental health appeared first on Association of Health Care Journalists.
URL: https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2026/08/beyond-too-much-screen-time-youth-mental-health/
-------------------------------------------------
Learn more at https://healthjournalism.org/topic/mental-health/ .
This robot is NOT affiliated with Association of Health Care Journalists and merely rebroadcasts from their site. Responses posted here are not monitored.
-------------------------------------------------
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #YouthMentalHealth #DigitalWellbeing #ScreenTimeDebate #AttentionFracking #AlgorithmTransparency #PlatformDesign #PublicHealthReporting #TechPolicy #YouthMediaLit #HealthJournalism
-
How to Help Kids Reduce Screen Time Without Arguments
Tired of daily battles over phones, tablets and TVs? Discover practical, conflict-free ways to reduce screen time while keeping your child happy and engaged. Read now 👉 https://indiatutor.in/blogs/how-to-help-kids-reduce-screen-time-without-arguments/ #ScreenTime #PositiveParenting #DigitalWellbeing #HealthyKids #Education #IndiaTutor -
How Much Screen Time Is Too Much for Kids? Expert Guidelines for Parents
Not sure how much screen time is actually safe? Learn age-wise expert recommendations and simple ways to build healthier digital habits for your child. Read now 👉 https://indiatutor.in/blogs/how-much-screen-time-is-too-much-for-kids-expert-guidelines-for-parents/ #ScreenTime #Parenting #HealthyHabits #DigitalWellbeing #ChildDevelopment #IndiaTutor -
Online Gaming & Smartphone Addiction Awareness Educational Video for School Students in Classes 6–12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qzug-gSeX8 #OnlineGaming #SmartphoneAddiction #ScreenTime #GamingAddiction #DigitalWellbeing #InternetSafety #CyberSafety #StudentAwareness #SchoolEducation #LifeSkills #MentalHealth #HealthyHabits #DigitalCitizenship #Classes6to12 #Education #SchoolStudents #Parenting #Teachers #YouthAwareness #StudentWellbeing
-
#digitalwellbeing #YouTube #Privacy #parenting #school
I built NoSuggest (https://nosuggest.com) because I was tired of opening YouTube for one video and losing an hour to the algorithm. Curious what bugs people most.
What's the worst part of using YouTube algorithmic feeds these days?
-
Watched this CTV News segment on what algorithmic short-form video does to a developing brain. Rapid novelty-seeking & attention fragmentation quietly shaped.
It's the exact mechanism I built NoSuggest's Kids Mode to remove. No discovery, no autoplay, no Shorts feed; just the educational channels a parent already chose, locked behind a PIN the kid can't touch.
Worth the 4 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg3q_hlKV-M
-
Majority of Americans support banning social media for kids under 16
About one-in-five adults oppose banning those under 16 from using social media. And roughly a quarter are unsure.
#socialmedia #youthpolicy #digitalwellbeing #parenting #Masto #CranfordTeague
-
Majority of Americans support banning social media for kids under 16
About one-in-five adults oppose banning those under 16 from using social media. And roughly a quarter are unsure.
#socialmedia #youthpolicy #digitalwellbeing #parenting #Masto #CranfordTeague
-
Majority of Americans support banning social media for kids under 16
About one-in-five adults oppose banning those under 16 from using social media. And roughly a quarter are unsure.
#socialmedia #youthpolicy #digitalwellbeing #parenting #Masto #CranfordTeague
-
There's a reason why double- or triple-screening your devices makes you feel tired, says NPR's Manoush Zomorodi. She explains the science of information overload and how to reclaim calm and focus. #wellness #digitalwellbeing #attention
Posted into FLIPBOARD EXCHANGE FEED 🗞️ @flipboard-exchange-feed-Econopass
-
Learn how Steve Jobs approached technology use and discover the Offline Framework to improve focus and productivity.
#OfflineFramework #SteveJobs #Productivity #DeepWork #Focus #DigitalWellbeing #ScreenTime #Technology #BillGates #TimeManagement #PersonalDevelopment
https://www.pashtomedium.com/2026/07/offline-framework-steve-jobs-focus-productivity.html -
Learn how Steve Jobs approached technology use and discover the Offline Framework to improve focus and productivity.
#OfflineFramework #SteveJobs #Productivity #DeepWork #Focus #DigitalWellbeing #ScreenTime #Technology #BillGates #TimeManagement #PersonalDevelopment
https://www.pashtomedium.com/2026/07/offline-framework-steve-jobs-focus-productivity.html -
Doom-scrolling hooks the same dopamine pathways as other addictions. I lived it, and getting free from it was hard.
I built NoSuggest for that fight: a free, source-available PWA that strips YouTube to just the channels you choose. No recommendations, no Shorts, no trending, no algorithm.
Share it with someone stuck in the scroll. Developers, a GitHub star helps more than you'd think.
https://github.com/No-Suggest/NoSuggest
https://nosuggest.com -
Doom-scrolling hooks the same dopamine pathways as other addictions. I lived it, and getting free from it was hard.
I built NoSuggest for that fight: a free, source-available PWA that strips YouTube to just the channels you choose. No recommendations, no Shorts, no trending, no algorithm.
Share it with someone stuck in the scroll. Developers, a GitHub star helps more than you'd think.
https://github.com/No-Suggest/NoSuggest
https://nosuggest.com -
DATE: July 21, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Relying on reminders could be weakening your memory skills
URL: https://www.psypost.org/relying-on-reminders-could-be-weakening-your-memory-skills/
Using reminders can make it easier to remember future tasks, but relying on them may also reduce the brain’s opportunity to learn how to remember on its own, according to new research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.
Most people use digital reminders every day. Smartphones, smartwatches, and calendar alerts help us remember appointments and deadlines, reducing the mental effort needed to keep track of future intentions. Psychologists refer to this strategy as cognitive offloading—transferring some of the brain’s workload to an external aid. Previous research has shown that reminders improve immediate performance, but much less is known about whether they influence our ability to remember independently in the future.
The researchers wanted to investigate whether reminders simply provide temporary assistance or whether they also change the learning processes that normally strengthen prospective memory—the ability to remember to carry out intended actions later.
Led by Craig Fellers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, the research team conducted two online experiments. In the first, 130 undergraduate students took part, with data from 108 participants included after applying predefined exclusion criteria.
Participants completed an ongoing word task while simultaneously remembering two prospective memory tasks (such as pressing the spacebar when they saw a word with three syllables). In one condition, participants remembered both tasks using their own memory. In the offloading condition, one of the memory tasks was supported by a highly noticeable reminder displayed in bold text, while the other still had to be remembered internally.
After completing the first phase, all participants repeated the task again, but this time without any reminders, allowing the researchers to examine whether earlier reminder use affected later memory performance. The researchers then conducted a second experiment with 280 participants using a different version of the task to replicate the findings.
As expected, reminders greatly improved performance while they were available. Participants almost never forgot the task supported by the reminder. However, the researchers found no evidence that removing one memory burden allowed participants to perform better on the other memory task they still had to remember themselves. In fact, in the second experiment, when the reminders were made even more explicit, performance on the non-offloaded memory task actually worsened.
The most important finding emerged after the reminders disappeared. Participants who had previously relied on reminders remembered significantly fewer future tasks than those who had never used reminders. Their performance was even lower than the baseline level achieved by participants who had relied solely on their own memory throughout the study. This suggests that they had learned less rather than simply losing the benefit of reminders.
The authors concluded: “While reminders can be a powerful tool for ensuring immediate task completion, they are not cognitively neutral. They can undermine the very practice required to develop durable, internal memory skills, suggesting a fundamental trade-off between immediate convenience and long-term learning and skill acquisition.”
The findings fit with a broader idea in psychology known as desirable difficulties. Although remembering without assistance is more mentally demanding, that extra effort may strengthen memory over time. By removing much of this effort, reminders may prevent people from developing stronger internal memory skills.
The authors caution that the study was conducted online using university students, so the results may not fully reflect how people use reminder apps in everyday life. For instance, older adults may rely on offloading differently than students. The researchers also examined relatively short-term memory performance, leaving open the question of whether long-term reliance on digital reminders produces similar effects.
The study, “Offloading Reduces Prospective Memory Learning,” was authored by Craig Fellers and Benjamin C. Storm.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/relying-on-reminders-could-be-weakening-your-memory-skills/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #memoryeducation #cognitivedumping #reminders #offloading #prospectivememory #desirabledifficulties #memoryskills #learningandmemory #digitalwellbeing #memorytraining
-
DATE: July 21, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Relying on reminders could be weakening your memory skills
URL: https://www.psypost.org/relying-on-reminders-could-be-weakening-your-memory-skills/
Using reminders can make it easier to remember future tasks, but relying on them may also reduce the brain’s opportunity to learn how to remember on its own, according to new research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.
Most people use digital reminders every day. Smartphones, smartwatches, and calendar alerts help us remember appointments and deadlines, reducing the mental effort needed to keep track of future intentions. Psychologists refer to this strategy as cognitive offloading—transferring some of the brain’s workload to an external aid. Previous research has shown that reminders improve immediate performance, but much less is known about whether they influence our ability to remember independently in the future.
The researchers wanted to investigate whether reminders simply provide temporary assistance or whether they also change the learning processes that normally strengthen prospective memory—the ability to remember to carry out intended actions later.
Led by Craig Fellers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, the research team conducted two online experiments. In the first, 130 undergraduate students took part, with data from 108 participants included after applying predefined exclusion criteria.
Participants completed an ongoing word task while simultaneously remembering two prospective memory tasks (such as pressing the spacebar when they saw a word with three syllables). In one condition, participants remembered both tasks using their own memory. In the offloading condition, one of the memory tasks was supported by a highly noticeable reminder displayed in bold text, while the other still had to be remembered internally.
After completing the first phase, all participants repeated the task again, but this time without any reminders, allowing the researchers to examine whether earlier reminder use affected later memory performance. The researchers then conducted a second experiment with 280 participants using a different version of the task to replicate the findings.
As expected, reminders greatly improved performance while they were available. Participants almost never forgot the task supported by the reminder. However, the researchers found no evidence that removing one memory burden allowed participants to perform better on the other memory task they still had to remember themselves. In fact, in the second experiment, when the reminders were made even more explicit, performance on the non-offloaded memory task actually worsened.
The most important finding emerged after the reminders disappeared. Participants who had previously relied on reminders remembered significantly fewer future tasks than those who had never used reminders. Their performance was even lower than the baseline level achieved by participants who had relied solely on their own memory throughout the study. This suggests that they had learned less rather than simply losing the benefit of reminders.
The authors concluded: “While reminders can be a powerful tool for ensuring immediate task completion, they are not cognitively neutral. They can undermine the very practice required to develop durable, internal memory skills, suggesting a fundamental trade-off between immediate convenience and long-term learning and skill acquisition.”
The findings fit with a broader idea in psychology known as desirable difficulties. Although remembering without assistance is more mentally demanding, that extra effort may strengthen memory over time. By removing much of this effort, reminders may prevent people from developing stronger internal memory skills.
The authors caution that the study was conducted online using university students, so the results may not fully reflect how people use reminder apps in everyday life. For instance, older adults may rely on offloading differently than students. The researchers also examined relatively short-term memory performance, leaving open the question of whether long-term reliance on digital reminders produces similar effects.
The study, “Offloading Reduces Prospective Memory Learning,” was authored by Craig Fellers and Benjamin C. Storm.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/relying-on-reminders-could-be-weakening-your-memory-skills/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #memoryeducation #cognitivedumping #reminders #offloading #prospectivememory #desirabledifficulties #memoryskills #learningandmemory #digitalwellbeing #memorytraining
-
Google India's New Guidebook Offers Practical Tips for Healthy Screen Time and Child Safety
-
RECAP/RECORDING - Chronically Online | A Workshop on Digital Fatigue & Burnout https://isoclive.substack.com/p/isocmumbai-digitalfatigue
Digital fatigue, doomscrolling, "fake rest" & what it means to pause and recharge — a workshop with Your Space.
#DigitalWellbeing #DigitalFatigue #Burnout #MentalHealth #isocmumbai
-
RECAP/RECORDING - Chronically Online | A Workshop on Digital Fatigue & Burnout https://isoclive.substack.com/p/isocmumbai-digitalfatigue
Digital fatigue, doomscrolling, "fake rest" & what it means to pause and recharge — a workshop with Your Space.
#DigitalWellbeing #DigitalFatigue #Burnout #MentalHealth #isocmumbai
-
All of My Own Compass, in one place:
🧭 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mijnkompas.app
🌍 Website, 7 languages: https://cosmicuniversaldesign.nl
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cosmicuniversaldesign
Everything runs on your own device. On-device AI, no account, no cloud, no tracking. Your thoughts belong to you.
#android #privacy #degoogle #europe #DéveloppementPersonnel
#ViePrivée
#OpenSource
#Privacy
#IA
#NoCloud
#Android
#SelfReflection
#DigitalWellbeing
#PrivacyFirst -
All of My Own Compass, in one place:
🧭 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mijnkompas.app
🌍 Website, 7 languages: https://cosmicuniversaldesign.nl
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cosmicuniversaldesign
Everything runs on your own device. On-device AI, no account, no cloud, no tracking. Your thoughts belong to you.
#android #privacy #degoogle #europe #DéveloppementPersonnel
#ViePrivée
#OpenSource
#Privacy
#IA
#NoCloud
#Android
#SelfReflection
#DigitalWellbeing
#PrivacyFirst -
Primo monitoraggio nazionale: cresce la dipendenza dai social tra i giovani. Dati allarmanti e strategie per prevenirla:
https://www.quotidianoweb.it/cultura-e-societa/dipendenza-da-social-lassociazione-nazionale-dalla-parte-del-consumatore-presenta-i-risultati-del-primo-monitoraggio-nazionale/ #quotidianoweb #DipendenzaDaSocial #SocialMedia #SaluteMentale #Giovani #Smartphone #DigitalWellbeing #Ansia #Prevenzione #Italia #News -
Oh joy, it's 2026 and the techno-saviors have decreed that swapping your phone's OS will magically thwart domestic abuse. 🙄 Because we all know the true villain in DV is clearly the operating system, not the abuser. 📱🔧
https://privacypros.com.au/privacy-hub/articles/dv-safe-phone-australia/ #domesticviolence #technologysolutions #victimblaming #digitalwellbeing #OSswapping #HackerNews #ngated -
👋 Hi #a11y community! I built NoSuggest (https://nosuggest.com) — a free, source-avaiavle PWA that lets you watch YouTube without the algorithm. No recommendations, no Shorts, no autoplay, no sign-in. Just the channels you choose.
I built it because I was tired of opening YouTube for one video and losing an hour to the rabbit hole. Turns out a lot of people feel the same. 🙂
