A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
The Disrupted Childhood Report explains commonly-used strategies, and highlights how automated technology both leverages and reinforces human instinct, in order to trigger habits and behaviours. Variously called ‘reward loops’, ‘captology’, ‘sticky’, ‘dwell features’ and ‘extended use strategies’, persuasive design strategies are deliberately baked into digital services and products in order to capture and hold users’ [...]
In young adults, negative social media experiences may be strongly and consistently associated with higher depressive symptoms. But, positive experiences seem to have a weak link to lower depressive symptoms, according to research led by the University of Pittsburgh. The study titled "The association between valence of social media experiences and depressive symptoms" was published in the journal Depression and [...]
New University of Canterbury research into the behaviour of online trolls has revealed the many actors involved and a surprising number of benefits to trolling – and not just for the trolls. When University of Canterbury (UC) doctoral student Maja Golf-Papez left a marketing career in Slovenia to start her research into mischief-making consumer behaviours [...]
The risks associated with social media are regularly reported in the media, and you may have experienced some of them already yourself or with your kids. A new study (Primack et al., 2018) adds important research to the discussion, finding that negative experiences on social media are significantly correlated with increased depressive feelings (a greater [...]
A mum has urged the NHS to diagnose her 15-year-old son with gaming addiction, as she says he has become so consumed by online games that he has not been to school for a year. Kendall Palmer, from north London, told The Telegraph she has fought for three years to have her son’s condition recognised [...]
"Do you call that a haircut? I hope you didn't pay for it." "Oh please this is rubbish, you're a disgrace to yourself and your profession." These are just two examples of comments that have followed articles I have written in my career. While they may seem benign compared with the sort of violent and [...]
Brett Lee, a former undercover internet detective and police office of 22 years, is passionate about keeping parents and guardians informed about the risks facing children in the online world. Now the founder of the child safety organisation Internet Safe Education, Brett keeps his audiences informed of new technologies and trends to keep children out [...]
Facebook says it is proceeding with its controversial ‘revenge porn’ prevention pilot, despite the slew of concerns from security experts and victim advocates. The company announced the scheme in November last year, detailing the steps users had to take to stop intimate images being shared on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger without their consent. The process [...]
There’s a “whole lot of sensitivity” in schools about what teachers should and shouldn’t teach when it comes to the nitty-gritty of sex education, but according to Dr Melissa Kang, one thing is clear: real life examples are a gateway to discussion. Indeed the #MeToo movement is more than just a hashtag – it’s an [...]
Children and young people under 25 who are victims of cyberbullying are more than twice as likely to self-harm and enact suicidal behavior, according to a new study. The research also suggests that it is not just the victims of cyberbullying that are more vulnerable to suicidal behaviours, but the perpetrators themselves are at higher [...]
