What are teenagers actually seeing on their phones?
Apr 11, 2025•45 min
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Summary
This episode explores the impact of social media on teenagers through the lens of a documentary series, "Social Studies," which recorded teenagers' phone usage for a year. It delves into themes like online identity, comparison culture, exposure to pornography, and the challenges of navigating an unregulated digital world. The conversation highlights the disconnect between adults' perceptions and teenagers' experiences, emphasizing the need for open conversations and potential solutions to mitigate the negative effects of social media.Episode description
A group of teenagers agrees to allow a filmmaker to record the things they do on their phones for a year-long experiment. To see the world they see through their phones, to encounter their algorithms. The results are honest, at times pretty upsetting, and tell us a lot about the internet that Gen-Z finds itself on. In the middle of our big, confusing, national argument about teenagers and their phones, a few answers.
Lauren Greenfield's documentary series, Social Studies
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