Do your social media accounts feed you content that reflects your core beliefs and guiding principles? Our new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that the algorithms supplying your feeds may be prioritizing content that clashes with your values. That’s because the algorithms heavily weigh online posts that you reply […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: Social Media
Why social media algorithms send you posts you don’t like
Teens see social media, more than school, as the place to learn about race and faith
For most young people, learning about social and political issues doesn’t start with a textbook. It starts with a phone. While debates intensify about whether to impose a social media ban on under-16s in the UK, it’s important to consider how social media can be a route for learning as well as potential harm. Young people aged […] … learn more→
Social media, not gaming, tied to rising attention problems in teens, new study finds
The digital revolution has become a vast, unplanned experiment – and children are its most exposed participants. As ADHD diagnoses rise around the world, a key question has emerged: could the growing use of digital devices be playing a role? To explore this, we studied more than 8,000 children, from when they were around ten until they […] … learn more→
Social media is teaching children how to use AI. How can teachers keep up?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how students write essays, practise languages and complete assignments. Teachers are also experimenting with AI for lesson planning, grading and feedback. The pace is so fast that schools, universities and policymakers are struggling to keep up. What often gets overlooked in this rush is a basic question: how are students and […] … learn more→
The dangers of exposing minors on social media: a trend we should and can avoid
Sharenting , the exposure of information related to minors by their caregivers – a practice that includes images, videos, or personal data of the minor – has become increasingly common. Although the term refers to parents and close caregivers, it also applies to other figures in their environment, such as teachers . All of them are role models for the […] … learn more→
Videos on TikTok and Instagram: A social learning process of self-presentation
Filming, editing, and posting videos on social media is now a central activity in young people’s social lives. But it’s also a complex, even dangerous, activity, especially for young women. What do they film, what don’t they film, and why? A look back at the findings of a survey. In an article dated March 12, 2025 , […] … learn more→
Panic over children’s mobile phone use distracts from the help young people actually want
Should young teenagers be banned from using social media? That’s the question being discussed by British MPs debating a bill that proposes the government should decide within a year whether to raise the age children can have social media accounts from 13 to 16. It follows a recent petition on the same topic that garnered nearly 130,000 signatures, […] … learn more→
How our bodies react when we use social media – and when we stop
The typical adult in the UK spends nearly two hours on social media per day. And for younger users, this can easily be up to five hours. The likes of Instagram or TikTok seem to draw us into their ever-changing feeds and it’s difficult to tear ourselves away from these platforms. Now our latest study shows that even our […] … learn more→
Can (or should) social media be educational tools?
The educational community has been focusing on the potential of social networks to implement training proposals since the spectacular development of the so-called Web 2.0 began in the early 2000s. Resources for interaction between users, i.e. social networks, were enhanced. The creation of Facebook in 2004 marked a momentous moment. The success of the platform triggered a […] … learn more→
Scroll less, connect more: A new study shows how to make social media work for you
We all know using social media is considered bad for you. A high social media diet is linked to anxiety, depression and FOMO (the fear of missing out). Even internal research data from Meta, the company behind Instagram and Facebook, agrees. However, over the last decade, social media has become woven into the fabric of our […] … learn more→
