Welcome to “Teens on Tech”: Our New Series with My Digital Tat2

The Social Media Lab is proud to announce our partnership with My Digital Tat2, a non-profit organization that addresses how to help children, teens, and young adults cultivate healthy habits and thoughtful online behavior to integrate technology into our lives in a constructive way.

         Questions about the effects of social media use on children and teenagers are abundant in scientific literature. However, one perspective that has been conspicuously absent is the voice of children and teens themselves. While we frequently study the effects of tech use on their well-being, their health, and their social relationships, few teens are given the opportunity to talk about their experiences with technology – freely, in their own words.

         “Teens on Tech” is the first of several initiatives in our partnership with My Digital Tat2, where everyday teenagers will share their insights on a particular part of their digital world. If you’ve ever wondered about what “ASMR” or “Mukbang” are, or how teens navigate algorithms and mental health on TikTok, this series may help answer your questions or even spark a new interest.

         Our partnership with My Digital Tat2 aims to close the gap between research and practice around issues of youth and social technology. Supporting the development of children and teens who are growing up and coming of age in an unprecedented digital world needs both rigorous empirical work and educators to translate those findings into practice. Critically, it also needs to involve the voices of those we are trying to support – which are children, teens, and young adults themselves.

         Over the next few months, you’ll hear from teenagers who were invited to create their own presentation on a topic of their choice about some aspect of their digital world. We hope you’ll join us in hearing what they have to say.