As the number one social network for Gen Z teens, Instagram has been increasingly proactive in developing both technology and wellbeing programs that improve the lives of the teens. In addition, the new comment filter is focusing on protecting teen celebrities and influencers who are often the recipients of brutal attacks in the comment section on their social feeds.
We first got a sneak peek at this new filtering technology last summer when Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom sat down with CBS News to talk about how the social network is betting that limiting hate speech will encourage more expression on the platform.
"Is it free speech just to be mean to someone?" - Kevin Systrom, CEO Instagram
According to Instagram, "This new filter hides comments containing attacks on a person's appearance or character, as well as threats to a person's well-being or health. The bullying filter is on for our global community and can be disabled in the Comment Controls center in the app.”
In addition to the anti-bullying comment filter announced yesterday, Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger announced that they are hosting the first ever #KindnessProm to celebrate young leaders who are inspiring their peers by helping kindness, acceptance and support grow on Instagram and in the world.
The prom is for students and “teen influencers” from around the country. It will be a “totally immersive, Instagrammable experience that focuses on positivity, kindness, giving back and community,” according to the Palm Beach Post. Instead of choosing a prom king and queen, each guest will get a kindness award. Radio Disney Host and DJ Miss Lela Brown will play the music.
One of the teens invited to attend the Instagram Kindness Prom is Kayla Abramowitz, founder of Kayla Cares 4 Kids, a non-profit which supplies DVDs, video games, books, and craft supplies to children’s hospitals.
The Kindness Prom isn’t the first wellbeing initiative from Instagram to focus on teens, bullying, and social media. Last year Instagram launched the Instagram Together campaign which showcased their continued commitment to developing tools that address bullying, mental health, and other topics impacting tweens, teens and young adults.
Related: Instagram pays it forward by throwing a "Kindness Prom" for teen influencers | ABC NEWS
Based on an evidence-focused literature review, the first part of this paper examines existing knowledge on how the time children spend using digital technology impacts their well-being across three dimensions; mental/psychological, social and physical. The evidence reviewed here is largely inconclusive with respect to impact on children’s physical activity but indicates that digital technology seems to be beneficial for children’s social relationships.
In terms of impact on children’s mental well-being, the most robust studies suggest that the relationship is U-shaped, where no use and excessive use can have a small negative impact on mental well-being, while moderate use can have a small positive impact.
"Claims that the brain might be hijacked or re-wired by digital technology are not supported by neuroscience evidence and should be treated with skepticism."
In the second part of the paper, the hypothetical idea of addiction to technology is introduced and scrutinized. This is followed by an overview of the hypothetical idea that digital technology might re-wire or hijack children’s brains; an assumption that is challenged by recent neuroscience evidence. In conclusion, considerable methodological limitations exist across the spectrum of research on the impact of digital technology on child well-being, including the majority of the studies on time use reviewed here, and those studies concerned with clinical or brain impacts. This prompts reconsideration of how research in this area is conducted. Finally, recommendations for strengthening research practices are offered.
I was deeply touched by the death of Blaze Bernstein. Because it happened in my community, it seems so personal. It's shocking and still, honestly, very raw.
Nineteen years ago I stood in a park in remembrance of Matthew Shepard. Today I did it in memory of Blaze Bernstein. And while I hope I never have to do it again, if necessary, I will. I'll gather with strangers, hold a candle, place a stone to remember a life lost.
In many ways, it's felt like deja vu. So many years ago, it was Matthew. Now it's Blaze. How many more LGBTQ youth have to be murdered before it stops? I don't have the answer to that question. But in both cases, the mothers of these young men gave us a path forward: Do good. Be kind. Love each other.
“As this began to unfold, we realized that we had an opportunity to set an example for people everywhere. To show them how even in the face of tragedy and loss, there is something better to concentrate on rather than bitterness, revenge, self-pity, and regret. We wanted people to embrace love, tolerance, and kindness, to do good. Our goal was to repair our broken world one child at a time, one kind act at a time, one day at the time.” — Jeanne Pepper-Bernstein, The Forward
So, until the world isn't broken, go spread good and #DoGoodForBlaze!
In the last few years, there’s been an explosion in the use of GIFS – those little-looped videos that seem to be everywhere. The GIF is often misunderstood as a component of modern communication.
Gen Z navigates their social media anxieties by relying on visual-centric social media platforms, like GIFs, emoji, and memes, wherein they can both create and share visual content to express their emotions. On social platforms, they embrace memes, visual narratives, GIFs and emoji to create fanart and provide their visual interpretations of shared cultural experiences and project their own emotions into their social media feeds.
This episode of the Australian podcast, Future Tense, host Antony Funnell talks to digital researchers and linguists about the ways that people are using GIFs, emoji, selfies and other visual communication tools as narratives to express their ideas, emotions or as visual expressions and celebrations of shared cultural moments.
VR, especially when combined with storytelling, enable the student to participate in the story, develop empathy to experiences outside their current realm of understanding and fully immersed in their learning.
While there’s much hype around the use of VR in education, how are teachers using this emerging technology in the classroom? What do students think? Those are just some of the questions asked by research conducted by Foundry 10, a Seattle-based non-profit.
Foundry 10: Students & VR Pilot Program
In 2015, 2015, Foundry 10 launched a pilot project to study the impact and student sentiment towards the use of virtual reality in their classroom and curriculum. Foundry 10 reached out to educators who expressed an interest in utilizing VR in their classes and provided them with headsets.
Last summer, millions of kids discovered the power of Augmented Reality (AR) while using apps like PokemonGo, Snapchat and Instagram.
In light of these socio-cultural changes, educators need to “keep abreast of change” and embrace curriculum design which integrates the authentic ways that students use AR in their “out of school” experiences as a tool that connects them with peers and content as a means to achieve, both short and long term, learning goals.
Like other technologies, AR has the potential to be a powerful tool that support the personalized learning goals of students by bringing scannable content to life in an engaging and cost effective manner.
For a generation that’s been raised on interactive technologies, bringing AR into the classroom and curriculum can also help encourage active engagement and contribute to student retention.
Full disclosure: Josh is a friend, so I know he’s too modest to list off his many accomplishments. But that doesn’t mean I can’t brag on him--here we go!
Josh has spoken at universities such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT & UCLA and to over TWO MILLION students around the country. He is a recognized teen expert for media outlets as MTV, CNN, FOX, The New York Times, 20/20, and Good Morning America. And Oprah. (Yes, that Oprah.)
“When it comes to understanding the minds of teens, there is no greater expert than Josh Shipp. I’ve witnessed firsthand the lives he’s transformed.”
// Ellen Rakieten, Emmy Award-Winning Producer of OPRAH
Josh is the author of the national bestseller “The Teen’s Guide to World Domination“ and he also was featured in the documentary TV series Teen Trouble (A&E) which followed his ground-breaking work with teens.
Growing Up Josh
Once an at-risk foster kid, he was facing down a bleak future that was likely to include prison or homelessness—until he met the grown-up who changed his life. Josh was passed around the foster care system, he was the class clown, a trouble maker.
He was written off, kicked out, and labeled every parents worst nightmare. Enter Rodney, the foster parent who refused to quit on Shipp and finally got him to believe in himself. And in doing so, changed the trajectory of his young life.
The Power of One Caring Adult
In March 2015, Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child released a study saying, “Every child who winds up doing well has had at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive adult.”
Maybe this child is 9 and in your Boy Scout Troop. Maybe she’s your 13-year-old step-daughter. Maybe he’s 15 and lives in your neighborhood. Whoever it may be, you have the power to make a positive and significant difference in their lives.
Here's how to be that caring adult for the kid in your life.
Step 1: Find out what they’re into.
Step 2: Spend time doing what matters to them because they matter to you.
Step 3: Your investment of time will lead to influential conversations.
If you’re interested in learning more about mentoring or finding a kid who needs a mentor, Josh has pulled together some resources:
As Josh says, “Do for ONE kid — what you wish you could do for ALL kids.”
Grown-Up's Guide to Teenage Humans
On September 19th Josh's brand new book out for parents (teachers, uncles, aunts, youth leaders), “The Grown-Up’s Guide to Teenage Humans”, a practical guide for understanding teens hits bookshelves around the country.
His goal for this book is to help parents and other caring adults be there for the kids in your life, and let them know that you see under the surface of their troubles. You see what they can be—and what they can be is amazing.
Josh challenges adults to be that one caring adult – that person who changes a kid’s life with a simple, caring act. It starts with you, and it starts now.
Stressing the need for mutual respect, trust, and encouragement, Josh identifies three key mindsets crucial to understanding teens.
He breaks down the distinct phases of teenage life, examining the challenges at each phase, and offers revelatory stories that take us deep inside the teen brain.
"Every kid is ONE caring adult away from being a success story." // Josh Shipp
Josh’s message is simple, clear and a refreshing change from the alarmist advice that is so often the default when it comes to discussing Gen Z teens. You can learn more about “Grown-Up’s Guide” and download a free chapter over on his website or order a copy from Amazon.
Dan Reynolds, lead singer of Imagine Dragons, announced the 2017 LOVELOUD concert on August 26th. The festival is designed to ignite the relevant and vital conversation of what it means to unconditionally love, understand, accept, and support LGBTQ+ youth in Utah communities.
Music can save lives, and that’s exactly what Dan Reynolds, lead singer of Imagine Dragons, intends to do. All across America, LGBTQ+ youth are plagued by high statistics of suicide, risky drug use, and bullying in schools.
In Utah, teen suicide remains the leading cause of teen deaths in the state.LGBTQ+ youth are more than eight times more likely to commit suicide when compared to their straight peers, and account for as much as 40% of the current homeless youth population.
Of this 40%, almost half of the youth cite family rejection, abuse, and abandonment as the leading cause. There’s no doubt that religion plays a major factor in a family’s decision to abandon and abuse their youth.
For this reason, Dan Reynolds, the lead singer of Imagine Dragons, has decided to take action by creating the LOVELOUD Fest, uniting musical artists and guest speakers in support and acceptance of LGBTQ youth.
“What can we do as a community to change these devastating statistics?” - Dan Reynolds
“I have no power or authority to speak on how to fix this problem, but I have been lucky enough to be given a platform that can hopefully raise awareness and create respectful conversations that lead to positive change.” And that’s exactly what LOVELOUD Fest plans to do.
All proceeds from this concert will go to the LOVELOUD Foundation which lends support to various Utah-based charities such as Encircle and Stand4Kind, as well as national charities, such as The Trevor Project and GLAAD. Each one of these organizations are dedicated to promoting acceptance and providing much needed resources to LGBTQ youth. (HuffPost)
My colleague Jarrod Walczer and I have been working on a book chapter for a forthcoming publication about the upstander culture sprouting up around the hit Broadway musical, Dear Evan Hansen and the visual social media artifacts being created by teens.
We've spent the last few months scouring Instagram and Tumblr and reading countless numbers of Dear Evan Hansen posts, visual social media and culled data on thousands of posts.
It's been a pretty amazing, and, to be honest at times, a humbling experience. But mostly, it's heartbreaking to read how disconnected and alone the most connected generation in human history feels from the real world.
Either way, one thing has become very clear: it's hard to be a teen in the social media age. So much harder than most adults can even comprehend.
We've learned a lot, developed a deep respect for the Fansen fandom, the Evan Hansen cast and most especially, Ben Platt. As we delve deep into the culture of Evan Hansen, and read the personal stories of these teens, it's clear that Mr. Platt is holding the hopes and emotional fears of many young fans on his shoulders.
Yet, night after night, he continues to carry the emotional weight of the role, he continues to be gracious with his fans and greets them with a smile on his face at the stage door.
We are putting the final touches on our book chapter and will have more details, soon!
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